When I was younger my answer would be no. In August of 2008, I drove to a local grocery store (in Hillcrest, San Diego, California) and parked my car. As I was walking through the parking lot, I noticed what looked like a small European pick-up truck. I noticed the truck had a flat roof attached to it and as a believer in harnessing solar power, I stood there looking at the truck to see if it was a solar panel or not. I had my fingers crossed.
Within seconds, a lady was fast approaching the truck and shouted, "That's my solar truck!" I immediately replied, "I love you. Don't worry I'm gay." We chatted for a little bit. It turns out it was a small European made pick-up truck with an electric engine. All she had to do was to bolt some posts, a solar panel, and some wiring and wa-la (I know, the actual French spelling is "voila.")—a vehicle which does not need to be plugged in and does not use gas.
She went on to tell me she calls it a "Neighborhood Electric Vehicle" because its maximum speed is forty (40) miles per hour. It can't be driven on the freeway. It's as simple as that.
Now I ask you, if a nice woman in San Diego can go out and buy a European electric pick-up truck, bolt on some posts, top the posts with a solar panel and add some wiring and drive around San Diego without air pollution (brief pause) then why hasn't any U.S. car manufactures—with their millions upon millions of research dollars and their staff of highly trained engineers—offered a solar car to the American public by now?
Want to buy an electric pick-up and truck and do the same thing? Here's the link to the company that sells the electric trucks. I think they also install the solar panel. Not sure.
See: Dymac USA
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