Crisis -plagued Lebanon introduces solar-powered car

In the midst of the worst economic and political crisis on record in Lebanon, a Lebanese businessman has defied difficulties and created a solar electric car, that works with a mixture of electricity and solar energy which he has called “Lira”.

“It is the prototype car to convey to people the message that today we have the capacity to build a factory, but the only thing we lack is the funding to build it,” Hisham Houssami, the car’s inventor, said during the presentation.

Houssami highlighted some benefits of his contribution to the motor vehicle sector in the country, but also to the economy when it is going through “difficult times”: “If the factory is built, job opportunities will open up for boys and girls, and the economic wheel.

The staging of the vehicle took place on Saturday, in the heart of Beirut, surrounded by broken and empty buildings since the explosion in the port three years ago. with few attendees, but a striking exhibition: the car on the side of the stage , colored in black with the cedar as the main logo and the lyre written on its license plate.

During the ceremony, Houssami acknowledged having also created the car’s parts, including its batteries, from scratch, in addition to assembling the vehicle’s parts, a process that took a year.

The car has a range of about 200 kilometers when charged and its fast-charging battery is powered by solar panels, located on the roof of the car.

“For Lebanon to get out of the hole it has fallen into and for it to change, there is a word that unites dream, soul and creativity, aspiration and innovation; and the most important is (…) the will”, declared the Minister of Economy and Trade, Amin Salam, during the event.

Lebanon faced a severe fuel crisis last year due to political instability and inflation, so citizens used to wait all night inside their cars at a gas station to get some fuel.