Manufacturing

In summer of 2004, the first outlines for the Solartaxi were produced.

For the planning and design, the Lucerne University of Applied of Sciences and Arts could be enlisted. That's why the four students Tobias Berchtold, Michael Fischer, Martin Kneubuehler and Beat Schmid began with their thesis. At the same time, the student Roger Zehnder from the division structural strength at the ETH, Zurich started to work on the trailer. In October 2005, the trainees of Schindler Apprenticeship began the production of the vehicle. Already in February 2006, the first test drive took place. We achieved a speed of 80 km/h at the first go, but we had to use an airfield, because no brakes were attached. In the Winter of 2005/2006, the casing was developed at the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland (at the division of transportation design). After more and more people joined the team, we completed the body immediately. In June 2006, the Solartaxi could be presented to the road traffic licensing department in Lucerne. The vehicle passed the certification and was tested on the Swiss alp passes right after that. 16 km were covered vertically, without any breakdown. After that a drive to Spain and back ensued for testing the assemblies in the heat. All in all, nearly 10,000 km distance were covered, surprisingly without any breakdown.

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