Ride and roast? Check out this new solar-powered restaurant car… with an oven in the boot!

A European Commission research project has developed a prototype electric car to cater for all. Literally.

Plated with solar panels that feed its electric batteries, the vehicle runs on solar power – and powers a kitchen in the boot. This is the new electric restaurant car, able to travel and cook at the same time, created by IFEVS (Interactive Fully Electric Vehicles).

“We wanted to show that by just using photovoltaic energy you can not only drive the vehicle, but also power a kitchen and be able to cook in an ecological way,” says IFEVS’s CEO, Pietro Perlo,“Our car is modular. We always have the same chassis based on a mix of very high resilient steel. The car has 4 powered wheels. It has two motors, one in the front, another in the back. Each motor feeds two of the wheels”.

These modular designs are made with simple elements for easy, cheap assembly; and the small food van is the latest protoype in the project that includes pick-ups, vans, and taxis. However, keeping a vehicle this small as safe as possible can be a challenge; and so the reliability and ergonomics are now set for some vigorous testing before mass-production is considered.

All this, and it aims to be affordable for most. The Project Coordinator Marco Otella said of the car, “Our aim was to develop a really hi-tech vehicle, with state of the art technology, that has the safety of a plane for the cost of a washing machine”. The project team want to make vehicles of this type available across the continent, so efforts continue on product development.

Do you like the idea of cooking whilst you drive? Would you pull over for an impromptu picnic? Let us know your thoughts at @Liftshare!

Photo credit: Euronews, IFEVS