Yesterday, at the Greener Gadgets conference in NYC, prolific industrial designer Yves Béhar unveiled never before seen plans for his “hackable” solar powered electric car. While Béhar and his design studio Fuse Project are not new to transportation design, this next project will be very different from the Mission One electric motorcycle in that it will be designed specifically for the developing world. The idea is that this cute and affordable car will have a standard base frame, but the other components would be almost totally customizable by the end user. Check out all of our exclusive pics of this just-unveiled electric car!
Béhar explained that the new car would have an electric base, with components that could be customized in any configuration that the customer could dream up. Many of the parts (like the back and front bumpers and headlights) would be identical, meaning that they would be totally interchangeable – meaning less expense and energy used in creating component parts, and easier fixing and maintenance for car owners down the road.
In addition to this smart modular design, Behar’s new EV would be solar-powered with photovoltaics covering the roof of the car. This smart car concept really drove home Béhar’s main point from his Greener Gadgets keynote presentation about thinking differently about design by designing for specific users, and making green products that are fun, sexy, and exciting.
We also love the fact that Béhar is continuing along the path (which he began with his XO $100 laptop for kids in countries like Haiti, Uruguay and Mongolia) of bringing sustainability and clever design to the developing world where people need it most. Although this is just a concept design right now, we have no doubt that Fuse Project can find a great partner to get this made, and when they do, we’ll be first in line to snap one up We think this concept would work really well with Trexa’s modular EV platform that we wrote about in January – so we think these guys need to get together pronto. Fuse Project meet Trexa – Trexa, meet Fuse Project.
+ Fuse Project
And don’t forget to check out the rest of our Greener Gadgets live coverage here!
