Not a week goes by without a hot new electric vehicle being announced, and this week is no exception. The Swiss company Mindset AG has announced that it is planning to produce an ultra-lightweight hybrid vehicle with roof-mounted solar panels. The hybrid coupe, dubbed Six50, is the work of former VW head of design Murat Günak and from what we’ve seen of the preliminaries, this car is as cool looking as it sounds.
Still at the prototype stage (indeed, at the moment there’s little else), the car is designed to weigh about 800 kgs and be 4.2m long. It is yet one more auto in the long line of hybrid vehicles trying to be the most efficient method of private transportation. But we have to admit that the lines of the vehicle certainly caught our eye.
The front circular headlights are reminiscent of the 60′s but the rest of the vehicle screams future-forward. The roof comes equipped with solar panels that power the lithium-ion batteries, providing around a 100km drive per charge. The most striking, and possibly coolest, feature? Gullwing doors.
Mindset AG has 10,000 units planned by 2009. If you are interested, it will set you back around $78,000 dollars.
Via AutoBlogGreen
I do not think this is a Swedish company but a Swiss one…
I’m a fan of the retro front end, but I feel like the rear end could have been shaped better. Perhaps with a more dramatic slope from the roof to the rear, which would look less ‘hearse like’ and promote better aerodynamics with a more streamlined shape. Just my $0.02
This is the ugliest concept car I’ve ever seen. Oh yeah, the lines of this vehicle caught my eye too, like a fish hook! The front end looks like the nose of a mule in a Sponge Bob cartoon. The solar panel placement is completely thoughtless with half the surface area dropping over the sides of the car and 80% if the prime roof area ignored. The rear end looks like a sliced off salami and must be horrible aerodynamically. The side profile may have looked “future forward” in the late 70′s. And those back wheels… what the hell is that all about? They stick them out away from the body so they have to have to have separate floating fenders and then leave that gaping hole in the body to catch even more air than they already disturbed by shoving the wheels out in space.
Wow, that is really unattractive. A range of 100km on a charge puts it in the same class as a bicycle with a trailer! The bicycle wins that contest, as it doesn’t typically cost $78,000. I don’t believe for a second that this solar car will be useful without being connected to the grid at some point.
I actually like the body shape and the wheel treatments.. but the front end seems out of place
[...] Indica EV will be powered by lithium ion batteries and will join 5 other electric vehicle prototypes that Tata Motors plans to release over the coming [...]