3 Really Awesome Concept Solar Powered Cars

You know what’s really cool? Concept cars.

The cars you’ll find at the local Honda dealership aren’t bad, but they’re restricted by a great number of things. Practicality being first, of course. Nobody needs a car with a bubble dome in place of a roof, so that’s strictly the stuff of concept cars. Technology, of course. You can’t really build a car with stuff that hasn’t even been invented yet. And third, and probably most important, marketability. The coolest car in the world won’t sell too well if it costs hundreds of millions of dollars just to put together. Some concept cars exist in prototype form, while others are just so cool, they could only possibly exist in some crazy genius car designer’s sketchbook.

So with that in mind, here are the three most awesome solar powered cars that you’ll probably never, ever, ever get a chance to drive.

1987 GM Sunraycer

This car came as a result of a collaboration between GM, Hughes Electronics, and AeroVironment. The Sunraycer itself is actually a real car, used for the World Solar Challenge in Australia, but the mass produced version was never more than a dream. The real one set a long-standing record for fastest solar powered vehicle.

The look of the car, and the fact that it’s rooted in a real life championship automobile, is why it makes this list. It doesn’t just look like a spaceship with four wheels, it looks=2 0like a spaceship with four wheels as it might appear in a comic book. It’s so incredibly slick and aerodynamic, it looks almost like the Silver Surfer’s surfboard.

Peugeot Shoo

If you want a car that will make you feel like you’re living in the future, it’s the Peugeot Shoo. The whole cab of the car is basically a little capsule just big enough to fit one, two, or three seats. It has a couple of small wheels placed close together in the front, and two bigger ones placed further apart in the back. The solar power comes from a retractable roof that pops out over the cab, and the small frame allows it to reach top speeds and run for a long time on solar power. Who hasn’t thought it’d be super cool to have a little pod-car with just one seat?

The SEAT Brisa

Some are calling this one the “Sailboat Car”, as the design suggests “breeziness”… according to its designer, at least. It is undeniably cool. A two seater with a translucent shell for the body, two wheels up front, and a big one in the back, sitting smack dab between the two seats. You’re literally riding with your butt about five inches from the ground. Beneath the translucent body, there are solar panels to collect energy and send it the motor, which is mounted directly onto the rear wheel.

Unfortunately, for the time being, the only way any of us are ever going to drive one of these is if we become billionaires and have one custom made. Oh well, we can always dream.