One of the most eye-catching exhibits at the IAA trade fair was a ‘solar powered’ minibus from Austrian supplier K-Bus, built in its Slovenian factory.
With solar panels on the roof and rear, enough electricity is generated to power accessories such as air-conditioning, thus reducing the load.
Described as a ‘solar range-extender’ the 750W solar panels top up a 40Kwh battery, and even in cloudy-bright conditions can generate 8kW over 10 hours, says the manufacturer.
The base vehicle is the Nissan e-NV 200 electric, and after conversion has a capacity of up to 27 people.
Although K-Bus does not plan to bring it to the UK, it has already got five in service across Europe (Austria, Germany, Slovenia and Poland) with an order in place for Finland and up to 25 more on order.
