Tag Archives: New Zealand

Runs on sun

What’s better than a solar-powered trash compactor at a bus stop? A solar-powered bus!

Chris from Port Townsend sent me a link to this post from the Inhabitat blog:

Tindo, a solar-powered electric bus, was introduced just last week in the city of Adelaide in Australia. The best part? It’s free to ride the supercute, supersolar Tindo.

Designed and manufactured by New Zealand-based Designline International, Tindo is charged by a photovoltaic system installed at the Adelaide Central Bus Station. It’s the largest grid-connected solar photovoltaic system in South Australia and charges the bus’s 11 batteries, which power the fully electric zero-emission engine. The bus has a range of 200 km between charges, more than enough to accommodate services within the city. It carries up to 42 passengers, a number that includes 25 seated passengers, 2 seats for disabled passengers, and 15 standing persons.

A bus that runs on sun (Source: Inhabitat)

 

Australia is, of course, the perfect place to test this technology. It might be a minute before anyone’s brave enough to try it here.