Louis Palmer and his solar-Taxi trip

Louis Palmer’s comeback to Switzerland on December 18, 2008 from his round the world tour with a Solar-Taxi

The first time I heard about Louis Palmer, the Swiss solar energy pioneer, was at the European Sustainability Forum in Lucerne on July 3, 2007. It was also the day that he started on his Solar-Taxi trip around the world. It was practically impossible to take a decent photograph of his solar vehicle. It was surrounded by people even then from all over the world. I exchanged cards with Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Mexican reporters ! Yesterday, though, at Palmer’s comeback event, there were mostly Swiss and Germans, judging from the language they were speaking. After Louis Palmer’s departure, I diligently followed his blog (www.solartaxi.com, German and English language versions). From the beginning I decided to be there at the finish line when he came back to Switzerland. And, to take a decent photo for my photostream (www.flickr.com/photos/angehalle).

The odds were against me. The day before the welcome back event, there was a snow storm and even heavy trucks were stuck for hours on the autobahn around Lucerne. Would he be able to manouever his light vehicle under these circumstances. And how would I get to Lucerne in time, a two hour train ride from my home ? Even in Switzerland trains get (a little) late when it snows a lot. My family told me to think positive. So, early in the morning of the 18th I took the train from Wil to Lucerne, taking the Voralpine Express Route. Although I came later than planned, so did Louis Palmer and his convoy of Electric Vehicles and Twikes. The photos did not come out very well this time either, because the crowd was big again. But it was wonderful to be there and witness his welcome back. I was reminded of the fictional arrival of Phileas Fogg in London after his round the world in eighty days voyage. But, Louis Palmer is for real.

Practically all over the world, the media reported on Louis Palmer’s Solar-Taxi feat. After all, now he has proven that a solar powered electric vehicle can go around the world without any major problems. The battery and the motor survived the wear and tear of bumpy roads all the way. The only non-press coverage was in Australia. Not one media representative went to the press conference at the New South Wales Parliament. Nevertheless, Palmer still admires the country, nature and its people. The most irritating part of the trip was the occasional burocracy. Time and again the trip had to be rescheduled waiting for visas. But after that, in these countries, the lecture halls were full and people who were interested in his message. Which is simple: carbon emissions have to decrease 100% (yes that much !). And one of the measures where this is possible is with solar run vehicles. Some unexpected things happened on the way. After waiting for a Chinese visa and organizing everything around that date, inside the country, Palmer discovered that he was not allowed on the freeway (electric and light vehicles are not allowed). But he was able to see more of the country, and the Swiss made car was well prepared for the ups and downs of chinese hills. The chinese enthusiasm in solar energy impressed him very much. He considers China the present leading country in solar technic. The biggest surprise, however, was not being able to travel through Japan, because the Swiss number plates (in contrast to those of almost all other countries) are not recognized there.

From school children, general public, movie stars, maharajas, UN secretaries to princes and princesses, he was able to reach out to an enourmous number of people of all walks of life on this trip. (Here a shortlist of people who were passengers in his Solar-Taxi: the maharaja of Jaipur (India), Prince Albert (Monaco), Princess Somaya (Jordan), Rajendra Pachouri (director of UNEP and nobel prize winner), Micheline Calmy Rey, Bertrand Piccard (Switzerland), the environment minister of France, Bianca Jagger, Larry Hagman, Jay Leno, Michael Bloomberg and the mayor of Sofia (Bulgaria). Palmer was very proud of the fact the even Ban Ki Moon, the UN General Secretary, took a taxi ride with his solarmobile.

On the road most other people made positive signs when they passed his electric taxi. The only exception was a small crash in India, where the other car suffered more damage when it crashed into the photovoltaic part of the Solar-Taxi.

The whole endeavour lasted 18 months. It was impossible to make an exact plan. After all it was a taxi ! Palmer was often invited to speak at schools and press conferences. He also took passengers, including at the Climate Conference in Bali, Indonesia. Here is a list of most of the countries he travelled through with the Solar-Taxi: Switzerland, Germany, Chech Republic, Austria, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, India, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Laos, China, South Korea, USA, Canada, France, UK, Poland, Germany and back to Switzerland. He travelled around 8 hours every second day, which makes an average of 100 kilometers per day. In reality he sometimes had the solar mobile taken per ship and often took a day off his travels for the press conferences and lectures, visit to UN offices in Vienna, in New York, Climate Conference in Poland. All in all the Solar-Taxi travelled around 53 451 kilomers. One battery charge lasted 300 kilometers. The battery and the motor “survived” the whole trip. 50% of the electricity was produced by the photovoltaic panels and the other 50% was solar energy produced on a roof top in Köniz in Switzerland. Of course, when in another country this was virtual energy, but really produced. (Palmer is convinced that solar powered electric mobiles are better than bioethanol).

More than 200 people in Switzerland produced the Solar-Taxi, mostly near Lucerne. The photovoltaic cells are from Germany. Another 50 people were part of the technical and support team (not all of them at the same time). Without the technical help during the trip, Palmer thinks the trip would not have been such smooth sailing.

I already knew many of these details, which Louis Palmer spoke about during his lecture yesterday, but it was worth it, to see his enormous enthusiasm and energy, his clearly defined concepts, optimism and communication skills. There was an euphoric atmosphere at Palmer’comeback. He and his team deserved the standing ovation.

Louis Palmer has a new idea: „around the world in eighty days“ in a race between different types of Electric / Solar vehicles. I hope the Start is in Switzerland, because I’ll be there !

Ange Halle, Switzerland