Concept of the Day: Schluckspecht E

Not a design concept as such, but an all-electric, super-streamlined silver machine. Schluckspecht E (“heavy drinker”: this must be an example of German humour) has just gone over 1000 miles on a single charge in a TUV-ratified trial on the Bosch test track at Boxberg. A collaboration between a team from the Offenburg University of Applied Sciences and the Frauenhofer Institute for Transportation and Infrastructure, it completed 1014 miles before its lithium-cobalt batteries finally ran out of juice, driven in shifts by four drivers over a 36-hour, 12min period. The batteries, interestingly, are packaged in longitudinal structural elements; more at Gas 2.0. The Schluckspecht project is a long-running programme participating in events including the Shell Eco-Marathon and  the South African Solar Challenge. Actually, let’s make fewer snarky comments about German humour and note the quality of the country’s technical/engineering education system instead.