Why Don’t We Have Solar Powered Cars?

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[texasbuzzard]

Being a pilot, I only drive to work once a week. My car sits in direct sunlight huge open parking lot for 4 days while I’m at work. I think solar panels would work great for my situation

[PvtPartzz]

If solar panels only added 5 miles a day, that would cover 90% of my traveling. They would absolutely benefit me and they’d give me the peace of mind knowing that if I ever was without my car for a few days, I wouldn’t get in my car and find the battery at zero charge.

Just being able to charge somewhere that has no outlets or charging station is itself a huge relief.

Solar panels don’t have to be the sole source of power or even the primary power source for a vehicle for them to still make sense!

[eyemonsterstudios]

The first thing that came to me while watching this, oddly, was... survival. In an internal combustion or electric vehicle, it's possible to run out of fuel or charge and be stranded (I imagine a long, lonely desert road somewhere in the southwest). But with a solar assist, one would have something like a lifeboat. Either the panels could operate crucial power systems such as fan, lights or AC for brief periods, or if one waited long enough, sooner or later it could power the vehicle enough to get closer to civilization. One might only be driving a few miles at a time at low speed, but eventually one would get there. Even in normal situations, I think this feature would be a selling point. If a car company could promise an EV that would never leave one stranded, it could overcome a major consumer barrier.

[TheBitGuy]

I have two comments about this. First of all, the numbers don't always need to make sense. If people want a cheap car, they'd buy a Chevy Spark. People are willing to pay for all sorts of upgrades on a car that don't pay for themselves. So, I think a lot of people would pay extra for solar panels on their BEV or PHEVs, even if the extra production cost was never recouped. Second thing is, it's probably not a great explanation to say how long it takes for a full recharge. In practice, that doesn't matter. What does matter is how many miles per day could you add to the car? I think approximately 10 miles is where it starts to really make sense. Some people literally only drive 10 miles per day or less on average. I'm one of those people. But even if you drive 20 miles per day, that's 50% of your commute by sunlight. Take a PHEV like the Prius Prime. It's rated at 25 miles per charge. But with solar, you might could get 35 miles per charge if you parked it at work in the sun all day. That could be the difference between driving your entire commute on electric power, or having to start the engine every day. So, 10 miles starts to make sense. And if that can be increased over time to 20-30 miles per day on an affordable car, then it's a real game changer.

[bhagirathpriyavrat]

The thing is, if the solar panels are cheap enough, what's the loss in having some solar capabilities in the car. Sure it will not be 100% grid free but maybe 5%. Everything adds up.

[biffgc]

I think solar panels would be a huge benefit for more people than we think. They may not increase the overall range by much, but they would decrease reliance on the grid for the average commuter if they spend more time at work than driving.

[carloscable]

The Aptera would be a huge hit here in my town, we get tons of sun all year, I'm sure a few hours on the sun would cover most people needs of transportation, it also isn't projected to be nearly as expensive as other EVs, it's limitation right now is that it's a 2 seater, probably they'll come with a 4 seat option if the first one takes off.

[SaveMoneySavethePlanet]

You know what makes a surprising amount of sense? Solar powered parking lots!

I did some rough math for my work based on charging with a 110v plug and the standard size of parking spaces and one way lanes. My work would be able to charge everyone’s car 32-40 miles/day AND sell enough energy back to the grid in order to pay off the system in about two years.

Granted, I live in SoCal so I have a more ideal solar situation, but there’s still a good chunk of workplaces which could do this. And, as an EV owner, I can attest to the fact that 36 miles/day is more than you think it is….for me, it means only using public charging on Saturday instead of doing it Wednesday and Saturday!

Edit: sorry for the confusion. I’m talking about constructing a pavilion over the parking lot which holds the solar panels and the cars park under.

[aviflax]

Aptera’s approach is the most compelling. Reduce weight, reduce drag, redefine the car while retaining utility — reframe the problem.

[teletuby]

Great overview! We try to avoid driving with our still conventionally fueled car and actually don't need it that often and it's parked outside. As a familly we need a practical car that carries all four of us plus some additional stuff. The Sion perfectly fits our use case which ist why I reserved one.

[samponette]

Out of the 3 solar cars presented, I’d opt for the Sion. Relatively cheap, 2 way charging (home battery or charge other cars and make money), and decent trunkspace.

[josephdykes]

If solar panels added a minimum of 10 miles/ day, I'd be happy. That would cover about 25% of my weekday driving needs and close to 100% of my weekend driving needs. Think of the cost savings over the life of the car

[AlanMullett]

I had solar panels in my sunroof on my VW Passat. They were used to run the interior blower when the car was parked. It was great, meaning that on a sunny day the fan was running, you could hear the speed change when there were clouds passing in front of the sun.

However, all it had to do was drive the blower, it was an ICE car, but that was enough at that time (2003).

[roha]

Although this video is really well made, I do miss one essential thing: cars that have solar panels and are plugged in can also supply electricity back to the power grid.
Essentialy the same as the solar panels on your roof when your car is plugged in.

[jonrobinson]

It’s a good idea, as like all ideas and concepts there’s room for improvements. I see it as a range extender, if it get you x amount of extra range then that’s less to be charged when plugged in. It all helps out in the long run.

[adamlytle]

The vehicles that I'm most keen to see have solar added are EV school buses, connected to bi-directional charging when they're sitting at the bus depot between the morning and afternoon runs.
EDIT to add the caveat that adding PV to the buses themselves would only make sense once all the viable roof space at the depot is used up.

[lamia]

One really good solar panel use on a car I saw was the automatic AC system.
So in a hot sunny day the car would turn on the AC(small) and keep the inside of the car relatively cool, or in winter (say it has no snow covering) the AC would heat the inside of the car.

[ernestbywater]

One of the things that amazes me is that some car manufacturers manufacture hybrid cars which have 2 drive systems but none of them make a diesel/electric car where they have a diesel generator that operates at optimum performance at all times after warming up and the generator runs an electric drive motor in the same way the diesel/electric train locomotives operate.

[chiaracoetzee]

I used to live in Menlo Park within walking distance of my work. My car sat idle in strong direct sunlight typically 6 days a week at least. I would never have had to worry about charging even with moderate solar panel coverage. I think this is the case for anyone with a car-free commute and outdoor parking.

[BrotherAlpha]

That car from Aptera looks amazing. I can see some people not wanting one, because of how strange it looks, but it would be a status symbol for others for the same reason.