Nigerian Student Turns Vintage Volkswagen Into $6000 Solar- Powered Car

Segun Oyeyiola, a student of Obafemi Awolowo
University, in Ife, Osun State, Nigeria, has converted a
Volkswagen Beetle, using mainly scrap parts donated
by friends and family, into a $6000 wind and solar
powered car. He describes his creation as “Nigeria’s
future car.”
The reinvented vintage Beetle comes fitted with a
giant solar panel on the roof—exploiting Nigeria’s
abundance of sunlight—and a wind turbine under the
hood that takes advantage of airflow while the car is
in motion. Also, to ensure the car does not clasp
under the added weight of the installed technologies,
it comes with an extra-strong suspension system.
The car is still in the early stages of design, and still
requires a lot of work to reach the optimal target (the
batteries for the solar panel take four to five hours to
charge). However, now that Segun has succeed in
building a working prototype, he plans to take his
final university exams and then get straight back to
working on the eco-friendly car.
His concern for the environment has always been his
motivation, this has helped him dedicate much of his
time and resources to creating the automobile despite
many critics labelling his pursuit ‘a waste of time’. “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,” he said. “Seasonal cycles are
disrupted, as are ecosystems; and agriculture, water
needs and supply, and food production are all
adversely affected.”

Source: Ventures Africa