The Koenigsegg Quant: Solar's Next Step?
The Swedish automaker Koenigsegg has made a name for itself building supercars that go mind-bendingly fast, and suck down a lot of fuel. The newest Koenigsegg concept vehicle, the Quant, made its debut at the Geneva Motor Show recently, and it appears on track to break all sorts of records, just not the speed records the company is used to.
Here’s the claim Koenigsegg is making: the Quant is a solar-powered electric vehicle that will have a range of 300 miles with full batteries, and it will only take 20 minutes to completely recharged those batteries. To many, this would seem like fool’s gold. Sure it sounds good, but it seems too fantastic to be true. The people at Koenigsegg would definitely agree with you about the “fool’s gold” part.
The automaker is using pyrite, the mineral more commonly known as fool’s gold, to construct solar panels. Pyrite has incredible photovoltaic capabilities (the process of turning sunlight into electricity), and Koenigsegg says that their solar panels are able to convert 50% of the energy in the sun’s rays into electricity. Traditional solar panels are only able to convert about 6%, with the current world record being 8.9%. Not only that, but pyrite-based solar cells can essentially be painted on in a very thin film, conceivably allowing the entire upper portion of a vehicle to be one giant solar panel.
The pyradian solar cells are being developed by NLV Solar, which is also based in Sweden, and that company is working closely with Koenigsegg to develop fully functional prototypes and plan for eventual production. While specific details have yet to be released about the Quant’s electrical storage system, initial statements suggest some sort of lithium-ion battery.
Some are still skeptical about the feasability of actual production and the reliable implementation of pyrite’s impressive photovoltaic properties, but the Quant could go into production a lot sooner than one would expect.
And for those who are worried that the Quant will sacrifice Koenigsegg’s high-speed heritage, the Quant has dual rear electric motors that will accelerate the Quant from 0 to 60 in 5.2 seconds. Certainly not the fastest time in the world, but considering that the Toyota Prius has a 0 to 60 time of 9-10 seconds, that’s pretty darn quick for such an eco-friendly vehicle.P.S. I Love You move
June 18th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
[...] in March, we got our first look at the Koenigsegg Quant, a concept vehicle from the Swedish supercar developer that used a pyrite (a.k.a. Fool’s [...]