Who wants Afreecar?

One billion people globally survive on less than $2/day but desperately need personal mobility and electric power. One of the auto industry's most creative minds offers what could be a unique and sustainable solution.

Game-changing ideas come to engineers in countless places and circumstances. For Dr. Chris Borroni-Bird, it was in a tiny village in Mali. The year was 2009, and Dr. Borroni- Bird, then director of GM's EN-V program for the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, was on a typical vacation: working on clean-power and clean-cooking initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa.

“I noticed some solar panels donated by BP which were being used by the village's resident entrepreneur to charge lead-acid batteries, the type used in cars,” he recalled. “The guy would then lease the fully-charged batteries out to villagers who needed electricity.”