Solar panels on cars make no sense

Re:Solar panels on cars make no sense by steveBK123 on Sunday January 29, 2023 @11:18AM (#34569473)

Even level 1 charging off an extension cord on 110V charges 4x faster than these solar panel ideas would, adds no weight, works in any light conditions.. therefore overnight, and works with the included wall adapter all EVs come with.

$2k on a target $35k mass market EV is not insignificant.

I still stand by the idea that the Venn diagram overlap of "people who can't charge in their own home or work, even on L1" and "people who live somewhere rural/suburban enough to have completely open to the sun parking" is quite small.

L2 charging at a the grocery for 30-45min while you shop will get you as much charge as these solar roof pipe dreams would get you in an entire work week parked in a sunny field of dreams.

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Re:Solar panels on cars make no sense by eternityforest on Sunday January 29, 2023 @03:29PM (#34572370)

They say you get 2.5 miles a day or so in full sun. Lots of people drive only a few miles a day. I don't know if it actually matters, but for marketing purposes the ability to drive without the grid might be a good promo, especially when they can probably still bring the costs down a lot.

Hard to imagine a blackout so long that this would make a difference, that still involved having places to go inside the city, but in theory it could be useful.

Plus it's not from fossil fuel, which you probably care about if you bought an EV.

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