By Adam Mawardi
30 June 2023
Synopsis
Two Italian researchers, Maria Vittoria Prati and Fulvio Filace, tragically lost their lives during a road test when a prototype solar-powered hybrid vehicle they were driving exploded in Naples. The researchers, from Italy's National Research Council, were working on a project to convert combustion-engine cars into solar-powered electric vehicles. The cause of the explosion is under investigation. The project, called Life-Save and funded by the European Commission, aimed to promote greener transportation by retrofitting existing cars with electric motors and solar panels. This unfortunate incident has deeply impacted the scientific community and investigations are ongoing.
Two Italian researchers tasked with turning combustion-engine cars into solar-powered hybrids have died after a prototype vehicle exploded during a road-test.
Maria Vittoria Prati, a senior scholar and engineer at Italy’s National Research Council (CNR), and trainee Fulvio Filace were hospitalised with severe burns after the prototype vehicle caught fire in Naples last Friday.
The CNR confirmed on Thursday that Mr Filace, 25, died overnight. It comes days after Ms Prati, 66, died of complications from third degree burns on Monday.
Earlier this week, the CNR paid tribute to Ms Prati as “a brilliant researcher” and “an authority in the field of the study of emissions and the use of alternative fuels.”
The pair were test driving a modified Volkswagen Polo equipped with experimental technology that would enable drivers to transform their old cars into solar-powered electric vehicles.
Naples authorities are investigating the cause of the explosion although have yet to identify any specific suspects, according to the ANSA news agency.
CNR said on Thursday that it has launched an internal audit to “reconstruct the causes of the very serious event” and cooperate with investigators.
The Rome-headquartered government agency said in a translated statement: “The loss of two lives, moreover in such dramatic circumstances, deeply marks the scientific community, in every part of Italy.”
The prototype was developed by Life-Save, an EU-funded project seeking to encourage drivers to switch to greener transportation without having to pay for expensive new hybrid cars.
This involved retrofitting regular combustion-engines with additional electric motors, which were charged by battery and solar panels fitted on the vehicle’s roof and bonnet.
Solar-powered cars have been regarded as a potential solution to the lack of infrastructure and cheap charging needed to accelerate the electric vehicle revolution.
Life-Save has received about €1.8m in funding from the European Commission since 2017 under its Life programme, an environmental investment which supports clean tech start-ups helping the continent become carbon neutral by 2050, the Financial Times reported.
Life-Save has since disabled its website, which now features a tribute expressing its condolences to the late researchers’ families.
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
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