Lack of gas? Electric cars. Is the electricity cut off? Solar cars. A filmmaker, restaurateur, and race car enthusiast developed solar-powered vehicles in Venezuela that he hopes to mass produce.

Augusto Pradelli started adapting a golf cart in his small workshop in the center of Maracaibo, the capital of the oil province of Zulia (on the border with Colombia). He wanted the food business to recover from the covid-19 pandemic and a severe fuel shortage that has plagued that area for more than a decade, and is also affected by constant power outages.

“I needed to go shopping to keep my business active and open. “The first thing I did was replace a golf cart that was given to me,” he said. “In practice, it’s useful for a small family because it can carry four people” and “a load of up to 100 pounds.”

Details of these solar cars

At first he used rechargeable batteries with electricity, but opted for solar panels as power outages were a headache in Zulia.

Today, it seeks funding and government permission to mass-produce solar cars. He developed three prototypes capable of speeds of up to 100 kilometers per hour.

President Nicolás Maduro drove one of the black cars with blue lights painted on the body, in an official action. President “100% Venezuelan technology!” he congratulated.

“The biggest dream would be to be able to produce them from scratch in Venezuela. I think it can be done,” says Pradelli, who claims he has investors who will fund the project if it passes the paperwork.

They may not be that cheap, because their cars cost between $5,000 and $7,500, which is the average value of a used vehicle in this country.

In the long run, however, he says there are significant savings in fuel and maintenance costs, says this man who rose to fame more than 30 years ago with the premiere of “Joligud” (play the word Hollywood), a movie set in Maracaibo. The territorial pride of its inhabitants, in a region where oil exploitation began in Venezuela in 1914.

Hybrid: petrol, electricity or solar power

With the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020 leading to the height of the petrol shortage that was overcome only a few months earlier, Augusto used his modified golf cart to transport his employees and buy supplies for his restaurant.

The first model he developed used a fuel-efficient motorcycle engine, but “always relied on gasoline.” The latter used electric batteries, but “not as fast.”

“One thing leads to another, and then I asked myself: Can I heal this?” says.

Then he built a prototype that reaches 40 km/h and travels 100 km per day on a 110-volt domestic charge.

After achieving this goal, Pradelli had a new concern: staying connected to the flow of electricity. “And there was the sun (…) and we built a solar panel food car. That car is full of sun, like a ‘drop’ falling into a tank,” he explains.

The result was a hybrid vehicle that could switch from fuel to electricity and from electricity to solar at the discretion of the driver.

“A pack of batteries costs up to $2,500, but if you know how to manage it, it can last you three to five years. “I’ve already saved $3,000 for each car,” Pradelli says.

‘Made in Maracaibo’ hybrids do not have a carburetor or alternator, emphasizing simple maintenance, which reduces costs in mechanical breaks.

And he says they are safe, assuring that successful testing has been carried out at the Mechanical Engineering Faculty of the local Zulia University (LUZ).

“They’re small, but no matter how fragile they look, you won’t kill yourself if you crash,” he emphasizes.