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Solar car just toured the US, and will start production next year

singularityhub.com

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Re: Solar car just toured the US, and will start production next year

#21

Post by throw827474737 »

anamexis wrote: post #7
cjtrowbridge wrote: post #5

This has always seemed like the most stupid-obvious idea to me. It's amazing to see some recent examples getting closer to production! There are also mod kits available for some EVs which allow you to attach solar body panels that charge the propulsion batteries. And we have some examples of fully solar-powered EVs that have empowered nomads to travel the world without refueling or charging from electric grids. The f…

How are people traveling the world with "up to 40 miles per day in optimal sun conditions"?

Google average commute times snd distances, you will be surprised even for the US.

Re: Solar car just toured the US, and will start production next year

#22

Post by yunwal »

colinsane wrote: post #18
MichaelCollins wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The car this article is about gets 10-20 miles a day. Also "optimal sun conditions" obviously means keeping your car in direct sunlight the entire day. That rules out putting your car in a garage, which consequently rules out most urban use where short distances would be sufficient for most use.

depends on your neighborhood/city. a lot of places in the US make heavy use of street-side parking. at the least, it does position itself counter to any push at more efficient land use in cities.

Street-side parking in urban areas still doesn't get direct sunlight more than a few hours a day, since tall buildings block the sun. Perhaps useful in a few west coast cities, but usually it's either "short buildings + garage" or "tall buildings + outdoor parking".

Re: Solar car just toured the US, and will start production next year

#23

Post by andrewmutz »

snickerer wrote: post #6

Solar cars are scam. They are designed to get funding out of investors with poor understanding of technology. Do some basic math. The electric energy harvested with the solar panels is negligible for transportation. And why should we want to move around solar power plants? It makes much more sense to have them stationary. And to connect them to the power grid to sell the energy to others when the sun shines but the b…

Its a $30K car with a range of 190 miles and can charge itself 40 miles a day in optimal conditions.

I live in southern california and I drive about 20 miles a day under normal conditions.

Today I have solar panels on my house and a plug-in electric car, but I think the value proposition of a $30K car that I never need to plug in or refuel (during normal conditions) is pretty compelling. The solar panels on my home can spend time offsetting the rest of my lifestyle

Re: Solar car just toured the US, and will start production next year

#24

Post by jeffbee »

cjtrowbridge wrote: post #5

This has always seemed like the most stupid-obvious idea to me. It's amazing to see some recent examples getting closer to production! There are also mod kits available for some EVs which allow you to attach solar body panels that charge the propulsion batteries. And we have some examples of fully solar-powered EVs that have empowered nomads to travel the world without refueling or charging from electric grids. The f…

It only seems obvious until you try to build one. The people in the "Sunrayce" have been doing this for 30+ years. What you get is a hugely inconvenient fared e-bike with no night capabilities. The amount of sunlight that hits a car-sized object just isn't that high. Everyone is the real world is better-served by a regular old bicycle, or an electric car.

There's no innovation here. The economics of solar panels are not making them any more efficient, just cheaper. The ideal aerodynamics were solved long ago. This car that Cal entered in the Solar Challenge 2022 is substantially the same vehicle they entered in 1997. https://calsol.berkeley.edu/

Re: Solar car just toured the US, and will start production next year

#25

Post by throw827474737 »

amenghra wrote: post #13
cjtrowbridge wrote: post #5

This has always seemed like the most stupid-obvious idea to me. It's amazing to see some recent examples getting closer to production! There are also mod kits available for some EVs which allow you to attach solar body panels that charge the propulsion batteries. And we have some examples of fully solar-powered EVs that have empowered nomads to travel the world without refueling or charging from electric grids. The f…

My car spends the majority of its life in a covered parking structure. Solar on roofs (as sibling comment also suggested) probably makes more sense in the vast majority of cases.

Why not both, and more? We will need a lot if we want to keep some lifestyle...

Re: Solar car just toured the US, and will start production next year

#26

Post by memen »

cjtrowbridge wrote: post #5

This has always seemed like the most stupid-obvious idea to me. It's amazing to see some recent examples getting closer to production! There are also mod kits available for some EVs which allow you to attach solar body panels that charge the propulsion batteries. And we have some examples of fully solar-powered EVs that have empowered nomads to travel the world without refueling or charging from electric grids. The f…

It isn't that stupid-obvious for engineers [0]. It is just too little solar panel on a roof that you'd rather not leave out in the sun. Also, expensive.

[0]: https://youtu.be/xIokNnjuam8

Re: Solar car just toured the US, and will start production next year

#27

Post by colinsane »

there’s a market for this, even if it’s not you. the bulk of my daily travel happens by bike. i keep a car around for visiting friends/family in the nearby suburbs on the weekends. a typical week would have me driving it between 20-40mi. at that point, i can have an EV without having to upgrade any wiring in my home, or having to fight the roommates over our one off-street parking space where i could even plug an EV in.

the reason i wouldn’t buy this (yet)? i’m too cheap. since i spend so little time in a car already i can’t imagine ever paying more than $10k for one. by the time this model hits the used market i assume the solar efficiency and battery capacity will be about half what it is new, which might be too limiting for me. maybe future revisions will improve enough to counter that... or maybe the initial market is too small that they won’t be able to overcome that initial hurdle and build out.

but the product idea has some merit: i still wouldn’t write it off entirely the way a lot of people here are.

Re: Solar car just toured the US, and will start production next year

#28

Post by dougmwne »

andrewmutz wrote: post #23
snickerer wrote: post #6

Solar cars are scam. They are designed to get funding out of investors with poor understanding of technology. Do some basic math. The electric energy harvested with the solar panels is negligible for transportation. And why should we want to move around solar power plants? It makes much more sense to have them stationary. And to connect them to the power grid to sell the energy to others when the sun shines but the b…

Its a $30K car with a range of 190 miles and can charge itself 40 miles a day in optimal conditions. I live in southern california and I drive about 20 miles a day under normal conditions. Today I have solar panels on my house and a plug-in electric car, but I think the value proposition of a $30K car that I never need to plug in or refuel (during normal conditions) is pretty compelling. The solar panels on my home c…

Outside of the geeky cool factor, what precisely is the value proposition? You say you have solar on your house. So is it that you don't have to remember to plug in? Is that a big deal for most people? What if there was some kind of auto-connect when you pulled into your parking spot? Would that be better than carrying around solar panels that don't point at the sun?

I read through the absolute technical limits of solar cars once and promptly crossed the idea off in my head. Might as well just have 1000w of folding panels in your trunk that you can set out if you really need off grid charging.

Re: Solar car just toured the US, and will start production next year

#29

Post by bogwog »

rangersanger wrote: post #4
mysterydip wrote: post #2

Solar panels as (essentially) bodywork seems like it would be less than ideal in actual use. Fender bender? Car got dirty?

On a 24k car they've either gotten the price of the body panels pretty low or this is a loss leader. my hope is the former. If this car can live up to its promise this is exactly what I want as a city dweller that drives 200 miles a week.

The article said they reduced costs by not using glass for the solar panels, and by limiting the color options to a single color.

I don't know anything about car manufacturing, but that seems logical I guess. The car is ugly, but $25k for an EV with 190 mile range seems like a pretty sweet deal, even if the solar panels turn out to be a useless gimmick.

Re: Solar car just toured the US, and will start production next year

#30

Post by cwkoss »

dougmwne wrote: post #28
andrewmutz wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its a $30K car with a range of 190 miles and can charge itself 40 miles a day in optimal conditions. I live in southern california and I drive about 20 miles a day under normal conditions. Today I have solar panels on my house and a plug-in electric car, but I think the value proposition of a $30K car that I never need to plug in or refuel (during normal conditions) is pretty compelling. The solar panels on my home c…

Outside of the geeky cool factor, what precisely is the value proposition? You say you have solar on your house. So is it that you don't have to remember to plug in? Is that a big deal for most people? What if there was some kind of auto-connect when you pulled into your parking spot? Would that be better than carrying around solar panels that don't point at the sun? I read through the absolute technical limits of so…

Most renters have little control of whether they have access to an EV hookup. This opens up the market to street parkers in the right climates.
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