Nigerian Student Retrofits VW Beetle Into Solar and Wind Powered Car
Combining entrepreneurial drive with engineering know-how, Nigerian student Segun Oyeyiola has converted a VW Beetle into a wind- and solar-powered car.
Oyeyiola is a student at Obagemi Awolowo University, and completed the project for just $6,000 using mostly scrap parts donated by friends and family.
The retrofitted VW sports a giant solar panel on the roof and a wind turbine under the hood that takes advantage of airflow while the car is in motion. To ensure the car doesn’t buckle under the additional weight of the green modifications, Oyeyiola also installed a strong suspension system.
In a recent interview, the talented young man stated: “I wanted to reduce carbon dioxide emission[s] going to our atmosphere that lead to climate change or global warming which has become a new reality, with deleterious effect: seasonal cycles are disrupted, as are ecosystems; and agriculture, water needs and supply, and food production are all adversely affected.”
Currently, the battery takes four to five hours to charge, but the car is still in the early stages of design.
Next, Oyeyiola is hitting the books and then straight back to trying to improve the design until it becomes “Nigeria’s future car.”
Category: Consumer, Electric Vehicles
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