India’s efforts to join the space race may have taken the attention away from China’s own ventures into the world beyond, but there is no doubt who is stealing the spotlight in the green car race.

Chinese manufacturer BYD Auto has already been turning heads in both Europe and America with its range of electric cars and now China is ready to bring into practice one of the cleanest possible ways of powering transportation – with a solar powered electric car.

One of the country’s first groups of solar cars was displayed at the Zhejiang International Bicycles and Electric Powered Cars Exhibition in Hangzhou, eastern China’s Zhejiang Province.

The vehicle has been built to deal with the energy crisis with solar panels appearing on the roof absorbing 95 per cent of the light and producing efficiency at 14-17 per cent.

Of course the vehicle’s primary problem remains range and charging times – it takes around 30 hours for the vehicle to receive enough charge to travel 150km. If you were in a hurry it would only take you around 5km if you were out for an hour and the batteries were depleted.

While this vehicle may not be the finished article it’s clear that the wheels are in motion for China to tap into a new form of green cars – and at a remarkably cheap price too, expected to be somewhere in the region of $5,560. The rest of the world: beware!