tagged w/ Marcelo da Luz
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In June 2008, Marcelo da Luz began a 10,000 mile journey in his homemade solar car, the Xof1. Over the next 2 weeks, da Luz and his small crew faced down floods, police, and fatigue in their quest to break the world distance record. They may have inspired a couple people, too.In June 2008, Marcelo da Luz began a 10,000 mile journey in his homemade solar car,... more
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Minnesota state cops stopped our solar car today, claiming it wasn't legal to drive on the road. We produced all the documentation proving that it was, but they still got somebody from DC on the phone to check it out. After the DC guy took an hour and confirmed that we were all right, they decided that they still had to bust us for something. They moved on to our support vehicle, a full-size van hauling a trailer.
They tried to weigh our trailer to prove that it was too heavy or something, but they soon found they were wrong. Still determined to find SOMETHING, they looked at the stickers on it from all the companies that have donated parts and supplies to the solar car project over the last 9 years. Based on those stickers, they told us we were a "commercial vehicle" and said that we needed a commercial license. We told them that we in fact were a private vehicle, we didn't have any commercial sponsor for the tour, and that some of those stickers were older than the Bush administration. They wouldn't have any of it and told us that if we wanted to leave Stillwater, Minnesota we would have to comply with the commercial regulations.
Our experience is documented in the upcoming film "Chasing the Light," which will also appear on Current TV. In the meantime, check out what Minneapolis news has on the story. Minnesota state cops stopped our solar car today, claiming it wasn't legal to... more
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Orfordville was just one stop on a 10,000 mile journey to set a world distance record. Da Luz started in Toronto and plans to end around the end of the month in Inuvik, Canada, the northern-most point in the world reachable by road and also “the land of the midnight sun.”Orfordville was just one stop on a 10,000 mile journey to set a world distance record.... more
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