EV Solar Kits: Charge Anywhere (solar powered tesla kit)

[julienvm]

Excellent project. Would be nice to have it for Model Y too. Also, in addition to roof, bonnet and trunk, I think all windows should be transparent PV technology. This would maximize overall production (more kW, more sun angles). Definitely something Tesla should do in the factory, if you consider the potential to reduce strain on the grid as well as the energy cost savings for the user over the car lifetime.

[inachu]

WOW! Would love to get this! Can't wait until this goes retail! GO GO GO!

[PIasmaZombie]

why no solar panel on the hood ?? the roof solar panel is supposed to give 400Watt. the hood is about half the surface of the roof, so the solar panel on the hood would have 200Watt, half the energy from the roof. that makes i think a difference whether 400W or 600W when driving.

[swanny]

The more on the body of the car the better but amazing either way. Would it be doable to add solar to the bonnet and boot as well? Even put more on the rear window and then swap out the rear view mirror for a camera instead?

[zaneenaz]

Panels folding out of the trunk is great. The roof unit should also be designed to be self expanding. At park the unit could have sections that slide out in all directions and are slightly elevated from the car's roof...this allows the panels more cooling...heat greatly decreases the conversion efficiency of the panels. oh...my numbers show only 2kW for your example, or 20-25 miles per day.

[shedidwhat-ot]

Would this work for any ev? I'm planning on getting the 2023 silverado ev and would love to have this for it

[ezequieljimenez]

I NEED THIS! to every electric car on the market! I dream on buying a cheap electric and converting to solar to add range while driving or just parked. In my country this will be so good. It will make reliable to have this tech and compete with petrol cars with the long distances we have here in Argentina

[bwbw]

pretty sick... let me know when they come out

[julienvm]

I am wondering if there are any news on this project?

[NasierOmran]

Problem with these would be the extra space needed behind the vehicle. Not an option in crowed citys. Better option would be unfolding on the car..

[Fesslmonster]

Aptera is going this way.
Solar on the car itself is only useful, if the car is very efficient. Aptera is as efficient as a car can be. ... already the alpha prototypes look fantastic. Can't wait to see what improvements the beta's will have.

[nora_adora]

Note the battery isn't shown. How heavy and big is the battery?

How much trunk space would the battery require?

Unless the solar panels trickle charge the Tesla battery directly.

[mutrusmcplumpo]

Nice idea, I thought about this too. Is there any way that you could use a roll out solar array for this? Renovagen makes this rapid roll t system that could be well suited to this application.

[davidwill]

There's a guy that already has a working prototype of this, but hangs the solar panels off the back bumper and the electronics take up half the cargo area behind the rear seats. What is the point in filling up your cargo area with this for the rare occasion you might need it and hope the sky is not overcast???

[jackInno]

next will be a wind turbine that charge tha car while you drive on a downhill haha

[swanny]

Amazing! Timeline till customers get the product?

[L.M]

You add a small transportable 2kW wind turbine to this set up and you can more than triple the electricity input.

[AI-Driven-Entrepreneur]

The cost isn't worth it IMO. 2000 Watts of Solar realistically will run at 400-1200 which will charge a whole 2 MPH. Extra weight, cost, storage space could be better suited in a larger/ more dense battery pack, especially with the growing charge network.

[TennisHeartbeat]

Charge while driving would be ideal. One day!! :)

[litestuffllc]

Sounds a bit too good to be true. It takes 10 standard solar panels in the sunbelt to produce enough energy in 8 hours to travel 30 miles in a Tesla Model 3. Solar Panels on your roof will block the sunroof. 4 mph is ok, but it will cost you in dollars and space in your vehicle - basically that would be a 1 ft tall stack 3.5x6 ft. No panels on the roof would reduce this by 30%. Somewhere farther north cut that in half.