INFINITE RANGE ELECTRIC CAR - DIY Build

Ever wondered why we can't make an electric car that's fully powered by solar panels to provide an unlimited range? This video is a lighthearted take on building an infinite range electric car that uses solar panels to provide unlimited energy. The car has dual 3000W ebike motors to reach a maximum speed of 45 km/h, a 48v 4000w/h LifePO4 battery, 1575w of total solar production.

Materials:

[industrialvectors]

As a YouTube university graduate and city keyboard scribe, please let me tell you how you should improve your project.

[TheFutureIsLater]

Has anyone told you about the World Solar Challenge held biennially in Australia for the last 20+ years? You have to drive a solar car from Darwin to Adelaide (~3000 km).

[aussiespartan]

As an electric skateboarder I try to get as much range as possible. With nobby off-road tyres, I get 42 kilometres. With Road tyres I get 63 kilometre distance,
They are called off-road tyres for a reason. I’m in Melbourne Australia and I can hear your rumbling tyres from here ; )

[zecuse]

18:46 Seeing the horse buggy go by followed by your solar "buggy" was VERY satisfying.

[DanAndreiVladut]

As a solar design engineer, I love the effort you put into this, but I believe you can fundamentally change some items for far greater success:
1. manufactured solar panels are not just heavier. They have greater power density. You can get a 420W panel that weighs about 50-70lbs. The use of aluminum railing and glass also increases heat transfer. Solar panels heat up and their efficiency drops considerably. Using the wood backing and the flexible panels, their efficiency due to heat is lower. The manufactured panels will stay cool especially on a moving vehicle.
2. The steel frame is heavy. Consider using solar railing for the frame. Something like the Ironridge XR100 has great rigidity for the weight and has built in attachment points. You can use end clamps and mid clamps to secure the panels to the rail for easy removal. You'd shave a lot of weight and reduce the footprint of the vehicle.
3. I didn't see the initial video, so I don't fully understand your electrical setup, but you may benefit from a different power supply configuration. The excess solar production needs to go somewhere. Use a configuration where the power supply can be powered by the panels, and excess solar charges the battery. As solar power goes down, the battery takes over.

[mharding]

Awesome dude. I put an e-bike build together that comes home every day after work and plugs into an outlet on my 400W solar shed which has accumulated enough charge throughout the day to get me to work and back the next day.

[nielsdebakker]

Use narrower tires, reduce roll resistance. You could mount solar panels overhead, use it as sunshades and weather protection and get rid of the trailer. that is also reducing roll resistance.

[juniperhart]

Awesome that you made this with standard hardware. Unlike the Australian Solar car event, your machine doesn’t cost millions. Maybe version three you make the buggy longer, three more panels, more aerodynamic, shaded driver, lighter chasis. Same power system, same tyres, better flexible frame design for absorbing the bumps, and clear windscreen for rider comfort.

[therealgaragegirls]

Sure. Lots of ways I'd improve a v2.0. But you're out there actually building this stuff and doing so in a way that entertains. Thank you, Drew!

[InimitaPaul]

You could drop a heck of a lot of weight by building the trailer out of aluminium, only the vehicle itself needs to be somewhat structurally safe, other than cost it doesn’t really matter if the trailer is hit and destroyed. On the subject of the panels it would be good to make some aero out of thin plastic to direct airflow under them for cooling, you’ll get significantly better efficiency the cooler they are.

[HieuNguyen-ekby]

Hey Drew, if you ever decide to revisit this project, consider:

Switching over to rigid panels. The flexible panel produce 1/2 of the rigid panels power at peak. You can possibly integrated the panel as structural parts as well. Many of them designed to handle snow loads.

Use higher voltage but in parallel. Many panels have poor performance in shaded conditions, and can affect the performance of the whole string.

[Leongon]

Why take offense of the people giving suggestions? Take it as a compliment to the content creator, guys, he got people excited about the idea and trying to help improve it, as he requested. I see no sense in dismissing people calling them armchair engineers and such when many are likely to be actual experts in the technology and skill set involved.

[bigmikeosg]

Some times building something, you build and build. Once you built it, it doesn’t necessarily need any other building. But you build anyway, and then what you built is great but needs a bit more building. Hope the building never stops 👍

[jacobmcravin]

the "opposing similarities"(not sure if that how you would say it) of the horse drawn buggy and a self sustaining electric vehicle was amazing.

[degreeless_engineering]

"A grinder and paint make me the welder I ain't". One of my favorite sayings!

[randyconrad]

I live down in Norfolk county not too far from this guy. I really hope I run into him sometime.

I cant wait for the next build video for this project. There's been awesome comments and I cant imagine all the ways he's going to improve this rig.

[oggie]

Stumbled on this by chance but watched in admiration!
Well done & fair play to you sir, fair play!👍👏👏👏♥️

[mr.hughes]

As a cyclist I know if you put slick tires on those wheels you will get better efficiency and a smoother/quieter ride. I wouldn't put narrower tires on though, some fat tire slicks would be perfect. Would be cool to be able to tilt the trailer panels, like in the sun setting end if you could stand those panels up a bit then you could have gotten home. Maybe triangle shaped frame in front and rear with panels sitting on a center pipe that can lock flat or tilt and lock one way or the other.

[simag]

As an electrical engineering student, what was built and what was being built was very inspiring and yes, you really learn a lot from it!

[KrlKchr]

You are putting a lot of thought into this, taking care of the quality, you installed fuses to protect you and the equipment while kind of prototyping this together. nice work!