Electric car that charges itself
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Electric car that charges itself
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Re: Electric car that charges itself
#2First to get to market but certainly not the only player in the solar-powered self-charging production car space. There's enough of them that there's a Wikipedia page - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_car
Re: Electric car that charges itself
#3For the poor efficiency of solar panels, seems like a big gimmick to try to differentiate and spend a ton of R&D on (solar body panels).
I'd find it more interesting if you could just plug it directly into a solar array.
Re: Electric car that charges itself
#4[deleted]
Re: Electric car that charges itself
#5This may be a stupid question but given that these cars literally absorb light... do they pose a danger on the roads in terms of visibility to other motorists?
Re: Electric car that charges itself
#6First to get to market but certainly not the only player in the solar-powered self-charging production car space. There's enough of them that there's a Wikipedia page - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_car
Even traditional manufacturers are on it; Hyundai's IONIQ 5 is meant to have a solar option.
Re: Electric car that charges itself
#7This idea will never be practical but it also seems it won't die. 69 miles per week of charging. Assuming the car is sitting outdoors all week and the weather is not cloudy.
A Tesla can charge more than this in an hour.
Re: Electric car that charges itself
#8This may be a stupid question but given that these cars literally absorb light... do they pose a danger on the roads in terms of visibility to other motorists?
What are your thoughts on black cars?
Re: Electric car that charges itself
#9This may be a stupid question but given that these cars literally absorb light... do they pose a danger on the roads in terms of visibility to other motorists?
Hah, an interesting question and certainly not stupid at all!
A quick Google search [1] suggests that a (standard?) solar panel absorbs ~2/3s of the light, so it probably reflects enough to make out the car on the road. But the question actually becomes valid and important once we discover solar panel material that can absorb even more light (think Vantablack-like absorption).
Very good question!
[1]: https://news.rpi.edu/luwakkey/2507, search for "absorbs 67.4 percent" on the page
Re: Electric car that charges itself
#10This may be a stupid question but given that these cars literally absorb light... do they pose a danger on the roads in terms of visibility to other motorists?
The panels don't absorb anymore light than any body panel that is the same color (in the visible spectrum). Just less of it gets converted into heat.