Soaking up the sun, car curbs pollution

Soaking up the sun, car curbs pollution

Made of plastic and aluminum, Ekotrike achieves zero-emission status

By Chris Fraizer
Close-Up Correspondent
Article Last Updated: 11/22/2007 10:16:54 AM MST

Andy Schoenberg can't go anywhere without someone asking him about the vehicles he drives - not even to the end of his driveway.

Not because the vehicles are fancy. They are made from molded plastic, aluminum and honeycomb panels. They also have what amounts to a solar-powered gas station on the roof and sport comfortable-looking seats inside.

Even so, "they catch a lot of people's attention," said Schoenberg, a retired bioengineering professor from the University of Utah and owner of Sunzeecar LLC, which manufactures the solar-powered, single passenger Ekotrike.

Schoenberg welcomes the attention to his product.

"Anyone concerned about the high price for fossil fuels and air pollution should be interested," he said.

The Ekotrike achieves a zero-emission status through the use of solar-charged batteries and a pedal-driven electric generator. An afternoon of basking in the sunlight makes the Ekotrike good for traveling up to 40 miles at 20 to 30 mph on a single charge.

A trip to the U., which is about nine miles from the Schoenberg home, takes close to 30 minutes driving along side streets. A trip to the grocery store depends on how many people stop him or his wife, Mieke, in the parking lot to ask questions.

"People are so shocked, they usually slow down," Mieke said. "When I'm . . . at the store, it's rare when no one stops to look."

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