People and projects that inspire us
“That’s the thing! You have it!
Your car is self-contained and carries it’s own power plant.”
Thomas Edison addressed these encouraging words to a young Henry Ford in the late 19th century – at a time when electric vehicles (EVs) ruled the roads. Back then, Ford was a young entrepreneur working hard to popularise a new technology: the internal combustion engine.
Today, of course, the situation is reversed and we can’t help but wonder whether Edison, if he were alive, would have something similar to say about Project ECARUS and its on-board solar power plant.
After all, by 1910 Edison had become an early champion of solar energy:
“I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power!
I hope we don’t have to wait till oil and coal run out before we tackle that.
I wish I had more years left!”Edison in conversation with Ford, 1910
Edison’s foresight and tenacity always inspired us. So it is only fitting that he should be at the top of this page. Please scroll down to find out about other brilliant individuals and ideas that have made us think deeper, work harder and go further.
This page has three kinds of entries (click to go there):
Solar electric vehicles
AUSSIE OUTBACK SOLAR CHALLENGE
Aussie Outback Solar Challenge
The Simpson Desert, two teams, and close to 400km of desert to cross in a solar-electric conversion. To top things off, they successfully completed the challenge in 2017 and earned an entry as a Guiness World Record. Respect to both teams for blazing new trails - see a full write up here.
EV WORLD TOUR
Electric Vehicle World Tour
Mon dieu! What a beautiful idea - and great to see it come to life! We're keen followers on youtube, and can recommend it - follow this couple's dream becoming a reality.
LIGHTYEAR ONE
Lightyear One
Wow, the lightyear one is a self-charging super cool EV, yes, solar self charging. A luxury sedan with most surfaces being photovoltaic to charge as you drive or park.
Hannes saw an early presentation at the 2019 World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi while meeting people for Project ECARUS, and was highly inspired.
If these cool guys are is doing solar self-charging cars so professionally, we can’t be completely crazy (we hope!)
Check out the lightyear one, a truly stunning vehicle - see Robert Llewellyn from Fully Charged test it here. The future really is now.
ROUTE DEL SOL
Route del Sol is another project we are extremely excited about: Route Del Sol is the first attempt to drive from Alaska to Argentina on renewable energy. Their ride of choice a solar-electric RV and, as they go along, they go out of their way to create a wave of positive energy towards making solar-electric vehicles a new reality. Follow their dispatches from the road here.
Update: following a recent incident in Mexico, where a storm badly damaged Route Del Sol’s solar system, they need help to get back on the road. Click here to support their recovery effort.
SOLARROLLA
SONO MOTORS
Solarrolla
When we first came across Solarrolla, our reaction was: YESSSS, we’re not the only ones who want to travel on sunshine! Like us, Solarrolla is a family venture, founded by Brett and Kira Belan, who - we are not ashamed to say - we’d love to meet some day. They build 100% electric vehicles, including solar-electric VW buses, RVs and even scooters. We love following their updates online here.
Sono Motors’ Sion
The Sion is the brainchild of Munich-based EV start-up Sono Motors. Vying to bring solar-electric innovation to the city dwelling masses, it’s completely cladded in solar panels and features green air conditioning using Icelandic moss. Check out their website, they’re already taking pre-orders for delivery in 2022.
Electric vehicles
EV WEST
EV West
Amazing Electric Vehicle Conversions - giving classic cars a new life, more ooomph and no emissions! We have been keenly following EV west, and nearly partnered up for our Pinzgauer conversion. The team there really know what they are doing, and seem to be doing it too well! Find out more about them here.
Fully Charged
We've been following Fully charged for years now and can't seem to get enough of it. The hosts, Robert Llewellyn and Jonny Smith, strike a cool balance between nerdy tech stuff and fun, beautifully shot visuals. We share their passion and conviction of where this is all going. Highly recommended. Makes you realise how far EVs have come. Here's a link to the Fully Charged YouTube Channel and website.
JAUNT MOTORS
Jaunt Motors
Ever wanted to go on a jaunt around Australia in a beautifully refurbed and converted classic Land Rover? Check-out Jaunt’s website to see Marteen Burger and Dave Budge breathe some new life into Juniper, a 1972 Series 2a, which they are converting to electric.
KREISEL ELECTRIC
G-CLASS
Kreisel Electric G -Class
Stunning - to electrify this masterpiece of Engineering (made in the same factory as our Pinzgauer) - check out the electric G here.
PLUG ME IN PROJECT
Plug Me In Project
We were thrilled to come across this crazy guy who decided to travel from the Netherlands to Australia in an electric car, "without money and relying on the kindness of people". The trip was essentially crowd-funded, with individuals and organisations signing up as hosts to provide food, accommodation and/or power along the way. He started in 2016 and is currently driving around Australia - unbelievable. Check it out here.
Other epic stuff
AROUND THE EARTH
In our book, Around the Earth is one of the most exciting overland journeys out there - and not just for Pinzgauer fans. We discovered Friedl and his epic ride, Desert Fox aka “6x6 unplugged”, on YouTube and became instant fans. You can imagine our excitement when we got to meet him in person at the OTA Globetrotter Rodeo, and especially when he agreed to join our advisory board! His fiercely independent outlook on what it means to travel and his candid updates from the road are an effective antidote to the insta-glorified travel content that has little to do with the reality of longterm travel. If you’re looking for serious off-road inspiration, make sure to follow this blog. Click here to find out more..
At The End We Are Dead is a YouTube channel that takes a philosophical approach to travel: they seek to unravel why people choose to leave the comforts of home and set out into the unknown. This documentary series places great emphasis on capturing the personal motives of travellers and, rather than offering gear reviews and brand endorsements, they dig into the reason why people take risks and seek freedom in this particular community. Check out their YouTube Channel here.
EXPEDITION PINZGAUER
on
ROBI’s FORUM
This Expedition-equipped Pinzgauer is an impressive camper van conversion which we found while trawling the web for ideas on how to configure our own Pinzgauer for overland and off-road travel, currently in Namibia. While we probably have to be 1 ton lighter, we were inspired by a great interior conversion, done in the UK and extended in Austria. Check out this forum thread in Robi's Pinzgauerforum. (Note: it's in German!)
WÜSTENWÜRFEL
Wüstenwürfel
“So I hear you are the guy who installs solar on overlanders in Abu Dhabi?” a voice with a German accent said to me in cold-call from an unknown number.
“Jein,” I replied, which is German for yes and no in one word – yes, that’s how efficient the German language is! While we had installed solar panels on our own rigs as well as for a few friends, we hadn’t exactly gone into the business of doing so. It turned out that our Syrian mechanic, who helped us with our desert explorers at the time, had given my number to an adventurous couple of overlanding honeymooners who needed a solar system installed. That is how we first met Thorsten and Danja.
They were on the way from Germany to Cape Town, in a modified G-class military ambulance and currently on an Abu Dhabi stop-over, waiting for paperwork to come through to cross Saudi Arabia and Sudan. As luck would have it, they were just 400 metres away from our house when I got his call.
Four days later we had pulled a small team together, including our friends Sam and Anna, and spent three days together in the Omani desert – where Wüstenwürfel showed everyone how capable a G-Wagon can be in extremely technical dunes, even with a comfortable super-shelter on its back. We are lucky to have met these guys, and beyond the friendship we share since then, have had even more good fortune. Thorsten used to develop EV technology with Porsche and had a thing or two to say about our project (he sits on our advisory team, too). Check out their epic adventure here.