The car, which took several months to design, is equipped with a 2bhp electric engine fed by a battery that stores energy harnessed by roof-mounted reflective solar panels.

Although the region is blessed with abundant sunshine, the car battery can also be charged using mains electricity on cloudy days.

The three students responsible for the car were part of a project developing renewable energy sources to replace the diesel, petrol or donkey power more often employed in the area. We have almost no industry, so nearly all our pollution is from vehicles, says Dr Salhab.

He hopes that the project will attract funding to enable another stage in development, so that the car could potentially be put to use across the West Bank. It cost around $4,000 [£2,600] to build, but we would need double that to build a real car that will perform better, go faster, for longer and be able to drive in all conditions.