If you want to feel like you’re about to travel into space even when you’re just going to the store to get some bread, then digital designer Fajar Ismail has a vision you’re going to love. He calls it the Stellar Landcraft, because it’s a land-based vehicle inspired by spacecraft. Simple geometric shapes, industrial aluminum body panels, and a clean and simple design give a purposeful, playful, and eyecatching look.
The Stellar design, Fajar Ismail writes, is based on the Quest Atom Alpha. Both Ismail and Quest are based in Indonesia, with Quest being an electric scooter startup. According to the company’s webpage, it has delivered 32 of its Atom Alpha electric scooters as of January, 2022. Since it’s nearly June, 2022 as I write this, it’s not clear how many (if any) more have been delivered in the intervening months.
In any case, while the Quest Atom Alpha is a utilitarian, small electric scoot built to go short distances, the Stellar adds a key element that seems almost ingenious, given the local area. As Ismail points out in his design, southeast Asia has an abundance of sunshine. That’s why his Stellar design incorporates a small solar panel right on one of the top surfaces of the bike. It’s located just in front of the saddle, about where the fuel tank might be on a combustion bike—and it makes so much sense.
Gallery: Stellar Landcraft Concept
Like most designs, the Quest Atom Alpha’s isn’t for everyone. While the battery is quite small, portable, and easy to bring indoors for a recharge, that also means the range is quite small. According to Quest, the original Atom Alpha’s battery could get you just an estimated 24 kilometers (or 14-ish miles) on a single charge.
Quest also specifies that it calculated that range assuming you’re riding on a flat road, at an average, non-aggressive pace—and also that the rider’s weight is around 70 kilograms, or approximately 154-ish pounds. Add steep uphills, aggressive riding, and/or added rider and cargo weight, and that already vanishingly small range could diminish even more.
By incorporating that solar panel into his design, Ismail created a smart solution to keep your battery topped up at all times. Assuming that the battery and motor operating temperatures stay at an appropriate temperature, this could theoretically mean a rider would have almost unending range. Sure, it’s obviously not meant to be a long-distance vehicle—but with that solar panel, it could potentially turn into something that could go as long and as far as a rider wanted.
