This may look like a machine used in a ‘Transformers’ film – but it’s actually a “smart” car with solar cells on the roof.

American firm BASF created the electric vehicle, using its knowledge of chemistry, which generates energy to power the car’s climate control system.

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) has welcomed the firm’s ‘Smart Forvision Concept vehicle’, which has a futuristic design, with technologies for energy efficiency and heat management expected to cut its energy use.

The car includes a light-transmitting roof with transparent solar cells and infrared-reflective film on the windows that helps reduce interior temperature in the summer and insulates it against the cold in the winter.

According to a study by the ACC, chemistry in energy-saving products helps save up to 11.1% of total US energy consumption, enough to power around 56 million homes or 135 million vehicles every year.

Dr. Martin Jung, BASF’s Automotive Research spokesperson said: “We are proud to have developed a holistic concept for sustainable urban mobility in cooperation with Daimler. Together we are presenting a pioneering vehicle which is without parallel.”