Warner Robins Man Invents Solar Powered Concept Car

If paying the high price for gas is wearing on your bottom line, Willem van Dijk says he has the solution.

Van Dijk created a solar panel powered car in his machine shop in Warner Robins. The thing that is unique about his car, is that it never requires a drop of gas.

“It’s like the modern day Volkswagen. A car for everybody,” van Dijk says.

His idea to create a new car began a couple of years ago, when his car repair shop began to get less and less business.

“I had some aluminum tubing laying around, and some stuff in the back, and I said, ‘I got the aluminum welder, why not do it?'”

With three wheels, and basically just a shell design with a floor, van Dijk’s concept car doesn’t look like much. But the principal of an engine powerful enough to tote four people around, and being powered exclusively by the sun, is there.

“The solar panels make power to charge the batteries,” van Dijk explains. “And the batteries power the electric motor.”

The car drives about 70 miles before it needs to be recharged by the sun. So while a cross country trek may not be convenient, driving back and forth to work or running errands, can be done every day with never having to fill up.

With a 13 horsepower modified engine, the car can reach a top speed of 45 miles per hour.

Van Dijk spent $13,000 to create his vehicle. The solar panels on top of the car take about four hours to charge on a sunny day, and six on a cloudy.

Van Dijk is currently trying to obtain a patent for his creation, but needs a partner to help him finance and invest in his car, to make it better and more marketable.