The majority of electric cars we’ve seen are of the sedan variety, and also for the most part have been designed for developed markets and cities where the roads are well-paved. However this also means that another market has been completely neglected, which is the emerging market where in some parts of the world, roads aren’t even paved at all.
One such market is rural Africa, but the Technical University of Munich has created an electric car prototype that has been designed to work under such conditions. Dubbed aCar, this is a four-wheel drive electric car that is capable of handling both dirt roads and off-roading, thanks to the use of the electric motor which ensures that the car always has full torque.
Unfortunately there are limitations and that is the current prototype only has a range of 50 miles. However the upside is that the way the aCar has been designed, it has a modular design and can be “transformed” to a car that can carry passengers or cargo. Its battery can also be used to power other devices like a winch.
The aCar was put to the test earlier this July in Ghana and is expected to go into production where it is estimated to cost below €10,000.