Squad Mobility eyes shared platforms as target for its compact solar electric

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Squad Mobility’s vision of the perfect urban vehicle is a low-cost EV equipped with solar panels swappable batteries and enough zip and range in its diminutive 6.5-foot package to meet the needs of city drivers.The startup says it is in talks with a range of micromobility and car-sharing operators that might be interested in diversifying their fleets with a compact smart vehicle.

Squad also installed a 250-watt solar panel to the vehicle which the company says adds another 12 miles per day given the amount of sun Europe tends to get.Hoevers said Squad has been in talks with shared micromobility providers to pitch the quadricycle and has found that most dockless vehicles see about four to five rides per day and drive about 36 to 38 miles per day numbers that TechCrunch confirmed with a few micromobility operators and that are well within the range of the Squad car.Squad also intends to equip its vehicles with cameras sensors and other smart features like remote diagnostics and maintenance which will make the company more attractive to shared operators looking for a fleet that can be integrated into its management platforms.

Hoevers also says he and his co-founder Chris Klok have used their collective 40 years of experience in mobility and shared past at long range solar EV company Lightyear to develop a strong CAN bus and drivetrain upon which new features can be added.Whether Squad ends up selling fleets to micromobility platforms or car-sharing platforms might depend on the category in which the vehicle ends up.Squad isn’t the only company that has added solar panels to its electric vehicles.The vehicle’s exterior is composed of hundreds of solar cells that have been integrated into polymer instead of glass and can add up to nearly 22 miles of extra battery life per day.Aptera says its vehicle which is available for pre-order and could cost anywhere between $25 900 and $46 900 will be built with 34 square feet of solar cells that can add an additional 40

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