Father and Sons Build Electric Car—a Popemobile for Pharoahs

Greg Zanis’ Dream Car is a solar-powered pyramid on four wheels that he built at home with the help of his two sons. Deceptively fragile, this little one-seater weighs in at 3,600 kilos, but its 80 batteries powering four electric engines really make it shift. Find out how fast, and watch the video of it pootling along a wintry Illinois street, after the jump.

Greg claims he can get his dream car up to 72 kph. The vehicle can run for 130 kms on a single charge (it takes around four hours to juice the battery) and has all sorts of fabulous extras, such as an in-car heating system, electric brakes, gel-filled tires and lowrider-tastic neon lights.

The Dream Car cost the Zanises US$60,000 in supplies, and who knows how many hours of their time. Now looking for financial backers, he says he needs US$40,000 to build a Mark 2 prototype, and aims to get its range up to 800 kms. [Dream Car and YouTube via Treehugger]