22 Dutch university students completed 1,800 miles of road trips powered only by the sun, aiming to prove that sustainable vehicles can allow you to travel around the world without harming the environment​​​

Students studying at the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands said that their van is called Stella Vita, which is the world's first solar-powered mobile home.

With its solar panel roof and wings that can be folded when parked with additional panels, the team doubled the solar surface to 17.5 square meters, generating enough energy for people to live and drive.

On sunny days, a legally licensed Stella Vita can travel 453 miles (730 kilometers) in 24 hours and reach a speed of 75 miles per hour.

The roof pops out when it is stationary, and you can stand inside while cooking.

It can accommodate two people and has a kitchen with a refrigerator, a seating area, a bed, a shower room and a toilet.

(See the video at the bottom.)

"Stella Vita is a self-sufficient house on wheels," their website says. "Through the solar panels on the roof, it is independent of the charging station." But it does have a power charger for emergency use.

The team said that the solar energy generated by the car is enough to drive, take a shower, watch TV, charge a laptop and make coffee.

In one year, the students successfully designed and built mobile homes and completed their demonstration road trip from Eindhoven to the southern tip of Spain last month.

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Drivers and passengers can also track the amount of energy used and remaining energy. News reports stated that it has a 60 kWh battery that allows it to travel 373 miles at night.

“On a cloudy day, the vehicle can still generate 60-70% of its energy,” team coordinator Dr. Carlo van der Weijer told the Guardian. "Even if there is no sun at all, you still have an efficient, ordinary electric car that you can charge from the charging port."

This is not the first solar car made by a team of college students and faculty called Solar Team Eindhoven launched in 2012. In their first year, they took the lead in manufacturing a solar-powered family car called Stella.

Since then, 3 more cars have been added before this pop-up van.

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Stella and its successors Stella Lux, Stella Vie and 5 Stella Era all participated in the World Solar Challenge held in Australia and won four cruiser-level competitions held in 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019. There are only licensed competition "family cars", and the road registration of Stella cars helps them win points in the race.

The Eindhoven solar team established a non-profit foundation to promote its practical solar car concept for wider adoption.

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In 2017, some students in charge of these vehicles set up their own start-up company to create a commercially viable version of the car, called Lightyear One, which will deliver a 4-seater solar car worth about $127,000 this year.

Watch the Reuters video about the Stella Vita Euro road trip...

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