Electric car that charges itself • Hacker News Board

Re: Electric car that charges itself

#51

Post by SideburnsOfDoom » Tue, Mar 16, 2021, 9:00 AM UTC

elihu wrote: post #48

SideburnsOfDoom wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For people using their cars once or twice a week to drive 10km to do groceries this will suit them Wouldn't they be even better suited to a regular electric car, parked under a roof of solar panels? The simple flat solar roof will be cheaper to make, and be a larger useful surface. And easier to replace, will keep the weather off the car, reduces car weight, etc.

People can do both. It really just comes down to: are the solar panels worth the added manufacturing cost and weight? If it cost ten dollars and added one pound of weight almost everyone would want it. If it cost ten thousand dollars and added a hundred pounds of weight then few people would want it. The unknowns at this point are: what are people willing to pay and how much additional weight will they tolerate? And,…

> are the solar panels worth the added manufacturing cost and weight?

"worth" here implies the third factor that you didn't explicitly mention: how much power you get off them. And "69 miles per week of charging" is pretty small, hardly worth it unless it's extremely cheap in vehicle cost and weight.

You're not wrong with the qualifiers "people using their cars once or twice a week to drive 10km to do groceries" and "some people don't own the land they park their car on" but each qualifier of the prospective customer greatly decreases the potential market size. Combined with a qualifier that they must be without good access to shared transport (so not in a big city, but not on their own land); then you might be looking at corner cases, not a viable market.

Re: Electric car that charges itself

#52

Post by unionpivo » Tue, Mar 16, 2021, 9:03 AM UTC

onethought wrote: post #22

liamkinne wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On their Twitter there’s video showing it getting 100W in full sunlight. That’s the equivalent to 0.5m^2 of rooftop solar. It’s just not worth the effort of putting the cells on the car.

So a car park of them would generate many kWs. Why isn’t it “worth” it... turning car parks into solar farms sounds pretty cool to me.

because neither solar panels, cables or charging network (to connect the cars) is free (money and emissions).

Re: Electric car that charges itself

#53

Post by dazc » Tue, Mar 16, 2021, 9:13 AM UTC

dreamcompiler wrote: post #7

This 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.

I drive 4 miles to my office and back, Monday - Friday.

*I only drive because, with no footpath most of the way, it's dangerous to walk and I would not feel safe cycling (the road attracts many idiot drivers because there is almost zero chance of encountering police).

Re: Electric car that charges itself

#54

Post by blendergeek » Tue, Mar 16, 2021, 9:13 AM UTC

mavhc wrote: post #34

jillesvangurp wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lots of cars don't drive much more than this per week and just sit outside on the drive way or parking lot. They are only used for short trips to work or shops. Solar charging ensures you only rarely have to plug it in to top it up, which is convenient. It also means that if you leave it sitting outside for long periods of time, it will be topped up rather than slightly drained when you get back to it. That convenien…

Those cars shouldn't exist at all though, massive waste of resources, renting cars should be much much simpler and cheaper

Renting cars requires a good credit score, a good driving record, and somebody willing to rent you a car. Further, if a trip starts at a residence there probably won't be a rental car available. And if all the rental cars are in use, there arent any. Car ownership allows a greater level of autonomy without continuous reliance on one more entity that can blacklist whomever they want at any time.

Re: Electric car that charges itself

#55

Post by swilliamsio » Tue, Mar 16, 2021, 9:13 AM UTC

mavhc wrote: post #34

jillesvangurp wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lots of cars don't drive much more than this per week and just sit outside on the drive way or parking lot. They are only used for short trips to work or shops. Solar charging ensures you only rarely have to plug it in to top it up, which is convenient. It also means that if you leave it sitting outside for long periods of time, it will be topped up rather than slightly drained when you get back to it. That convenien…

Those cars shouldn't exist at all though, massive waste of resources, renting cars should be much much simpler and cheaper

Surely public transportation options are infinitely more preferable than people repeatedly renting cars?

Re: Electric car that charges itself

#56

Post by bayindirh » Tue, Mar 16, 2021, 9:20 AM UTC

mavhc wrote: post #34

jillesvangurp wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lots of cars don't drive much more than this per week and just sit outside on the drive way or parking lot. They are only used for short trips to work or shops. Solar charging ensures you only rarely have to plug it in to top it up, which is convenient. It also means that if you leave it sitting outside for long periods of time, it will be topped up rather than slightly drained when you get back to it. That convenien…

Those cars shouldn't exist at all though, massive waste of resources, renting cars should be much much simpler and cheaper

Instead, cities should have much better and practical public transport, so I wouldn't need my car in the first place, but it's not possible to plan your day around with flexibility in my city, unless I have my car with me.

Otherwise, 15 min trips become 60+ ones which makes everything impossible.

Re: Electric car that charges itself

#57

Post by bayindirh » Tue, Mar 16, 2021, 9:21 AM UTC

darawk wrote: post #38

mavhc wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those cars shouldn't exist at all though, massive waste of resources, renting cars should be much much simpler and cheaper

Lots of people have a 10 mile or less round trip commute. At that distance, you can drive to and from work every day using this car. I don't think most people would want to rent a vehicle for this.

... and if I'm going to rent it for 24 hours, why not buy it in the first place?

Re: Electric car that charges itself

#58

Post by lloeki » Tue, Mar 16, 2021, 9:24 AM UTC

jillesvangurp wrote: post #49

mavhc wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those cars shouldn't exist at all though, massive waste of resources, renting cars should be much much simpler and cheaper

There is no car rental in my parents village and the bus only comes a few times a day. Car sharing works great in bigger cities but is not even an option outside those. I use one in Berlin and have never owned a car actually. Perfect for people like my mother would be a self driving car that you can summon to your door in a few minutes. But even calling a taxi takes half an hour+. So it would have to be faster than t…

For some (not that rare) areas, make that:

- bus: a few times a week (if at all), because of cost efficiency

- taxi: hours, + only if you book at least a day in advance, because they’re just not sitting there waiting for a call, they’re busy towards where people are/go, which is, like, the other way.

Throw in no/unstable/limited power grid, and you double down on one of the use cases.

Re: Electric car that charges itself

#59

Post by lpcam33 » Tue, Mar 16, 2021, 9:33 AM UTC

bayindirh wrote: post #57

darawk wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lots of people have a 10 mile or less round trip commute. At that distance, you can drive to and from work every day using this car. I don't think most people would want to rent a vehicle for this.

... and if I'm going to rent it for 24 hours, why not buy it in the first place?

The environmental cost of making the car takes a reasonable amount of the resources used in is lifecycle. So in the case you only need the car for a few miles a week you should consider alternatives. Maybe village councils should have a car to be shared by all.

Re: Electric car that charges itself

#60

Post by practicalpants » Tue, Mar 16, 2021, 9:43 AM UTC

dreamcompiler wrote: post #7

This 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.

Charging based on regenerative breaking would probably give a far greater amount of energy than this solar panel approach.