Why aren't solar cars everywhere?
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- čas přidán 13. 05. 2024
- Electric vehicles are here to stay, but charging times and range are still major turnoffs for many buyers. So why not just slap solar panels on the car and drive indefinitely with zero fuel cost? A handful of solar cars are available for pre-order now, but how realistic is the tech? Can solar power provide enough power to extend range and cut charging time?
#planeta #solar #electricvehicles
We're destroying our environment at an alarming rate. But it doesn't need to be this way. Our new channel Planet A explores the shift towards an eco-friendly world - and challenges our ideas about what dealing with climate change means. We look at the big and the small: What we can do and how the system needs to change. Every Friday we'll take a truly global look at how to get us out of this mess.
Credits:
Reporter: Kai Steinecke
Camera: Henning Goll
Editor: Frederik Willmann
Supervising Editors: Kiyo Dörrer, Michael Trobridge
Inteviewees:
Enno Dülberg, founding member of Team Sonnenwagen
Lex Hoefsloot, Co-Founder of Lightyear
Erik Johansson, Solar Cell Researcher
Additional thanks to:
Martin Heinrich (Fraunhofer ISE),
Xin-Yu Chin (CSEM)
Maximilian Hofbeck (Webasto)
Read more:
www.sciencedirect.com/science...
www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/14/...
www.researchgate.net/publicat...
www.sciencedirect.com/science...
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:35 Solar car concept
3:53 Solar cells in cars
6:30 Actual energy output
9:44 Other use cases
11:08 Conclusion
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What do you think about solar-powered cars?
I like it ❤
What do you like about it? What benefits do you see? :)
@@DWPlanetA Solar powered cars are great for many reasons! First of all, they are environmentally friendly because they do not emit harmful gases. They therefore help reduce air pollution and chemicals. In addition, they are also cost-saving, because you do not have to buy fuel. And of course it is also a great way to use sustainable energy sources. 🌞✨
Why did you do a hit-piece on Aptera? Why not show the latest Aptera instead of a prototype from years ago? Weak journalism or intentionally misleading?
This is why main stream media are losing viewership.
@@theunknownunknowns5168 lol u mad ?
We put solar on our house that exactly matches our EVs consumption. It cost $2500. Our car runs on sunshine. We just don't pull the panels around.
The California net metering 3 doesn't make sense (especially for small installs). Aptera bypasses permits / electricians and works for those that are renters or in condos. That said I'd happily buy an Aptera without solar because I'm in bc and our power is cheap and reliable (hydro).
I think that's the best choice. Solar panels on roof work very well.
The Aptera overheating was because they had not hooked up the motor cooling system. It's a prototype. They had it in Switzerland for part of the winter. Then showed it off in Southern California in the middle of summer during a heatwave. Opps.
You been sold lies. The second stop was on a flat road and they had to make up a different lie because the hoses were intact. Wake up.
I think it had a cooling system they had to turn it on manually and forgot to, prototype only
Actually,the cooling system had not been hooked up. They have since connected it and demonstrated in harsher conditions. The now connected system does require a startup sequence.
@@rp9674 The hoses were attached; what vehicle needs a switch to open/close hoses? They said it had a start-up sequence and never mentioned what that entailed. Again, what vehicle has a mysterious start-up sequence that still lets someone drive when it isn't used? Do more listening to facts and less guessing.
@@esprole "Actually,the cooling system had not been hooked up." Actually, that was the first lame excuse for the first failure (the hill). I am talking about the second failure (the flat), and they didn't use the first lie because that would have thrown Fambro under the bus.
"They have since connected it and demonstrated in harsher conditions." I wouldn't call 400 yards a harsh condition, nor even a proper demonstration - it was orchestrated nonsense and lies, much like they have always done.
"The now connected system does require a startup sequence." Hoses in a cooling loop don't require a start-up sequence, but I am open to an explanation attempt, lol. Baffle us with science.
Aptera is currently building out a factory for its first phase of mass production, which could definitely fail, but it also could succeed. It is still a baby relatively as a company and has huge potential if they succeed. a big longshot that could turn into a multi billion dollar platform.
The Aptera warehouses they rented are completely empty.
@@vic321344 thats not true, they've already begun moving in equipment, but probably 80% empty yes without lines installed yet.
Your video was doing fine, but then mis-reported the info on Aptera. That one incident occurred when Aptera demoed the prototype/show EV without hooking up the onboard cooling to the motors. It was a mistake, and you should really do a follow-up video with Aptera to be fair. Aptera is currently in the process of building a handful of production intent models, with all systems working as they will on the production model in 2024.
They didn't misreport. The stop actually happened, and they didn't say why. It could be you who misreports because there is no evidence that lame excuse you gave was true. They lie at AM. Here are some more details, but before I do, don't forget it overheated and stopped for Nikki at TE, and the excuse was sillier than the first:
Gamma was built almost a year ago and within a couple of weeks was whisked away to Italy. It was seven months later that it returned and had that incident. Steve Fambro took the fall by saying he had forgotten to put the hoses on when it was made. That's a long time to be forgetful, and then there are the engineers who forgot and never gave it a second thought for so long. There were videos that showed that the hoses were likely there, and just prior to returning from Italy they did a con job of a wind tunnel test that showed they weren't there. One astute observer claimed they removed them to cheat on the test (along with taping up the windshield gap and lowering the suspension) and forgot to put them back for just a couple of weeks, but even that is almost as much of a stretch in plausablility.
Regardless - the huge weight difference of Aptera; the less area of cells; the biigger tyre footprint; and the cost of solar technology being way beyond what Aptera has raised should be enough to convince you that Aptera has no chance. Better ask for your money back while you still can.
My thoughts exactly.
100% agree
If you look at their latest videos the cooling hoses are still not connected, Aptera not being honest again.....
@@shrimptopian3392 How can you tell that the cooling is not connected? Have you seen images of what it looks like with the cooling connected? Everything is aerodynamic on that car, so any cooling would be covered by a fairing of some kind.
Cars can be powered solely on solar panels but who says they need to be on the cars? Put it on top of parking and charge while doing your day to day business. 90% of the time a car is stationary
That what @Tesla promised, charging stations powered by sunlight.
Agree overall but i came around to solar on cars despite that as a concept a couple of years ago. Trickle charging while moving/stuck in traffic/away from charging cables is a cool trick, and charging infrastructure is expensive.
If everyone could plug in at work with level 2 charging great, but we aren't even close to that or will be in the near future. So on a City or Country scale, having in theory every second car or so top up some EV range would for sure take a load off your charging infrastructure. Things like 15 minute quick charging only partially help with that, solar could still be one part of the solution taking some of the burden off $$$$ expensive things like public level 2-3 chargers.
@@KarpKomet how much range do you get with 3kW charging? 8h at work + 8h at home during sleep, that is 16h * 3, that is 48kWh just a regular power outlet for each car and do you really need close to 50kWh for your regular commute? I would imagine not really, you need fast charging when you don't want to sit and wait for it to charge, you really don't want it when you are sitting around not needing your car for the next 8 or so hours. Use the grid people,
The car is stationary 90% of the time, but this does not mean that is 90% of the time under the sun.
I'll save you some time: money
And rare materials are not an infinite resource we should waste on cars or trucks. Solar farms and some wires to a grid is much cheaper and better
@@Jompe69
SOUNDS nice my dude. but its cheaper to build are car than to overhaul the entire infrastructure of the entire grid.
how long do you think it takes to roll out each new iteration of faster internet?
dial up, to broadband, from copper wiring to optical fiber?
or even the cell phone internet generations? from 2g to 3g to 4g to 5g. Im not sure about your country but for USA the FCC had to sell off the TV frequencies so that more frequencies could be made available.
all that to say, overhauls are expensive as ever. just try to imagine ALL gas stations were converted over night to electric charging stations? both the man hours, materials, and jobs lost for gas clerks would be too sudden.
Aptera enters the chat.
@@Jompe69wait silicon is a rare material?
@@ericolens3it really isn't though. Move the money our corrupt governments hemorrhage into auto manufacturers and fossil fuel companies, put it into sustainable infrastructure and agriculture and you create growth instead of an exponential drain.
Really just gonna gloss over Aptera like that? The cooling system in that prototype wasn't hooked up, because it previously wasn't necessary. People understate efficiency too much.
The 1.6kw Solarsystem on my electric classic vw Bus makes up to 60 km /per day with standard technic, works perfect ✌🏿
Aptera since has shown that it was a mistake that they didn't plug in the cooling for their in wheel motors. I highly recommend that you follow up with Aptera, and let them explain what happens. Aptera absolutely has a chance!
If you look at their latest videos the cooling hoses are still not connected, Aptera not being honest again.....
@@shrimptopian3392They have said that because their in-wheel engines are so effiecient they don't bother connecting the cooling for their normal driving.
Is Aptera a cult?
@@bltzcstrnx
Oh yessss
@@shrimptopian3392 ah, make sense. Their comments seem more fanatic than Tesla or Apple fans.
The most feasible option is very fast adoption of solar panels on buses, trucks and cars that will act as hybrid, which will increase the range of the vehicle, which is a big boost for more investment into solar power
I have the new prius prime. it comes with solar panels on the roof. parked outside work in the sun for 9 hours saw me gain 7 kilometres of extra range. its great because thats nearly a third of my commute. as it is a plug in hybrid, 95% of my commutes will not use any fuel at all.
You would need to park two of them side by side with black plastic covering the second to be sure you got 7 kms of range.
@@aussieideasman8498wdym, the infotainment screen in the car tells you how much range you are getting. it shows the wh and how much range youre gaining at the moment and how much range / wh youve gained all day. sure it might not be 100% accurate but its definitely in the ballpark.
@@sanuthweerasinghe7825 You said you got 7 kms, not ball-park 7. I was saying how to be 100% accurate, which you admit your experience was not.
@@aussieideasman8498 bro it’s not that deep. i don’t think they’d outright lie about how much solar range the car is getting. considering the cars tend to underestimate their range, i wouldn’t be surprised if it’s getting more than 7km worth of range.
@@sanuthweerasinghe7825 Besides the two-car test, a drive down an accurately measured road would also be needed.
Why they are in building most sophisticated solar car. We just need a simple solar car with solar panel on the roof that can give few kilometres every weeks.
Good point. There are solar car competitions around the world, which encourage teams to design and build certain types of vehicles. This type of technology though can ultimately contribute to the broader goals of sustainability and innovation in transportation. ☀🚕
There's these two things called 'thermodynamics' and 'cost'
Cost is not the problem. The Sono Sion was planned to be affordable and so is the still upcoming Aptera. No, cost is not the problem. At the end of the day, it is far more efficient to place those solar panels on the ground or on top of a building.
@@Hans-gb4mv Cost is the problem. If I pay for a 35000 for a 1 kw system that will only generate 20000 worth of electric in it's life, that's a net loss of 15000. That is a serious problem. Who in there right mind would want those panels.
@@jimhigens5464 you are paying 35000 but not for the panels, for the entire car! Small difference. Sono said that the solar panels in itself did not create a significant additional cost for the vehicle.
@@Hans-gb4mv at 3:46 he says the special solar panels costs 35 grand.
2nd point you ask any company that integrates solar pv into their car, what the cost per watt of their solar pv is. They will not tell you, because it's often 10x of normal panels. Which would scare potential investors away.
@@Hans-gb4mv All prototypes are 'planned to be affordable' buddy, but none of them are. Why do you think 99% of prototypes never see the market?
How did you get the Sono images of the crash test? I was a member of the community, early order, etc., but never seen those.
Thanks for this video.
I do believe solar car is useless - it's much more worth to have few kW of panels on the roof of your garage/parking space/house and charge the car at home over the weekend rather than filling up during the day.
If all external parking spots had a canopy with solar panels and charger allowing only to get the energy from the panels, not from the grid, this might be worth. But carrying the panels with you on the car is not the best thing ever. Any scratch and your production goes down substantially.
Just incorporate solar panels into the design of a average electric car if it only increases range by a little bit so be it every little helps. Even if it's only powering the onboard electrics it's something. Tho I think it's a good idea for things like buses and lorries, vans, trains, things with a big roof surface area.
True, I think big car manufacturers should just continue offering as an option. A bit of added range will still help even just added 4-8 kms per day. That still worth like going to shops or work that aren't close at home. That's free energy.
For buses, trailers and boats. I think this will shine better due to bigger surface area and far more efficient due to theu can carry more load for a single vehicle.
Trains? Well they help but really uncessary. Electric trains already run by the external power source which is more efficient, and solar panels can be simply installed on each station and depot. Trains already most efficient mode of transport that somehow many in North America region seems to forget. Solar can improve it for sure though.
I have very low mileage, about 3000km a year, even just a small panel on the top would probably avoid me plugging in 99% of the time. But I currently don't have an electric car so not much use to me. These could also work well on buses, lots of flat surface on the top
@@kornkernel2232 You cant do that as an option. Engineering a car doesnt work like that. You would compromise all cars of that series heavily by having an option to have solar panels.
@@_Dibbler_ Where do you see the challenge? as long as the parts don`t have any static loads (like bonnet, skylight, fender...) inherent, why not?
@@SchwuppSchwupp There is the point. All of the chassis is statically loaded and you would have to modify it in quite an unfavorable way for those panels. Every car would drive around that weight + a lot of extra parts for those pv panels. . Sure you can do it, but all of your cars would be worse and you would have to accomplish crash rules with both options, with the same chassis. Its the same reason why combustion and BEVs should not share the same chassis (and yet often do, but its not good for either of those cars)
I hope you’ll do another video when Aptera is selling cars and crushing the market. No other company is transparent enough to allow media to drive prototypes. The solar and cooling system is proven.
You didn't give Aptera a chance and they've solved all the issues that were mentioned directly before that part of the video. NBC drove the prototype that didn't have the cooling system connected to the motors. Though a misstep on their part, the company made it clear after what the issue was. Also several other CZcamsr's and others have driven their different prototypes. I see you like to use the car in all the b-roll shots, but then fail to do almost any research on the company that's the most open and honest about their development. In time more people will understand what's possible instead of just dismissing something actually world-changing. A car that removes the need for gas stations, and you can charge on a regular outlet at home?!? Keep dismissing them, and you'll be wishing you hadn't later on. Either way the future is coming, and I'm pretty certain Aptera is showing you what it can be. Again, they are very open with the things they've been doing and how the process is going. It's all on CZcams which is why it's staggering how bad your coverage of them was. I know it's a US company, so let's trash them I guess??
DW Planet A once again asking the wrong question. The problem with cars isn't what you use to fuel them, it's what the use of cars fuels. Ubiquitous personal mobility is the pump that inflates the sprawl balloon. It;s not "what" you drive, it's *that* you drive. It's not the car in the driveway, it's the driveway--it's everything cars enable and require.
Charging an Aptera is accomplished by 1) a Tesla charging station, 2) standard household plugin, and 3) solar panels. I live in a cloud-dominant part of the country and even though I'm ordering the full solar panel setup, I am not depending on it. I'm getting the 600 mile version and most likely plug into my apartment's outside receptacle. I imagine I'll charge at Tesla stations only on long summer trips and hope the solar offers some assistance. In short, I don't consider Aptera to be a solar vehicle. People who live in a sunny climate and use the vehicle for commuting could consider it a solar vehicle. They'll need to discover the ideal parking positions. If they don't live up to the hype then they will need to revert to the plugin options.
If you don't like or want an EV, then don't get one. EVs aren't going to save the planet, but they aren't going to ruin it either. I can't stop the burning of coal for example but I can stop driving a vehicle that emits toxic particles into air that my friends and family inhale. I don't follow/read many automotive publications but I would wager few, if any, point out that ICE vehicles emit poison and offer solutions to stop it. That's because they don't have solutions.
I think every hybrid or all electric vehicles should have some type of solar panels. Even if it just extends the range.
The 4 km/ day stat for solar self charging is not too bad considering how many two car families there are out there with one or both sitting parked all the time. If they could get that to 8-10 km/day on solar that would be really good. I am car free, but there are many (including my ex) whose commute is relatively short (say 7 km each way in her case) and the car is driven because the public transit connections just don’t work competitively (say 8 minute drive vs 55 by bus). In my case, I switch to transit from bike commute during the winter and I’m living in a great, central area, close to work, but can walk in almost same time as my transit commute. E-bike or scooter makes sense, and these micro cars that are popping up are awesome solutions, only when can I buy one (mostly in web marketing mode or n/a in my country).
This didn't give the full picture, American car companies get hundreds of millions from the US government to help them start up. However that strange looking things has three wheels so it didn't get the funding for cars, because cars don't have 3 wheels, which is why it went bankrupt. When the American government changed the rules it got it's funding and will most likely go into production.
Sono Motors didn't get hundreds of millions or even tens of millions, they got 27,000 Euros from the German government. If they had gotten as much as any American car company got then they would have made it into production.
The problems with those two bankruptcies wasn't related to the solar panels.
So, bankruptcies are now the fault of missing government funding?
They are related to the solar panels. Not to their technical functionality, but because the integrated solar panels require street verifaction for all those newly designed car parts which blew production costs completely out of proportion. And that led to the bankruptcies
@@kaisteinecke8034 it needs to be a level playing field and the EU should take action against US car companies when it isn't.
3:41 i mean you could use like linear actuators to automatically angle the solar panels when parked which is most likely like 8 hours a day during the day atleast because people go to work.
at that point itd probably just be better to have the solar panels permanently parked somewhere it can see the sun, and use them to charge a battery onboard the car
Oof! First time I've seen DW planet A goof up. The Aptera hill failure was a prototype error without the cooling system installed, not an actual production model flaw. Surprised this didn't get mentioned
I think Aptera is going strong. The scene you showed happened on a prototype. It is not fair to present it as a failure in my opinion.
I was about to say, just saw recent videos on them and they are ready to go scale next year plus the final model test drives are all positive.
@@tetsuoshima2314 "final model test drives"?
They should have shown Nikki stop on her TE test drive, as well, lol. Presenting Aptera as a failure is fair.
@@aussieideasman8498 Not without giving the company the opportunity to rebut and show it able to address the problem that had presented.
@@AzEagletarian They aren't able to tell the truth about the problem. Smart people know it's the skin cooling, but they lie to their gullible disciples and say (first time) no hoses on for the past 7 months, and (second time) forgot to use the magic start-up sequence, lol!
You just forgot to mention Fisker that is and will offer solar roof in all it's current and future models and according to the company and in ideal conditions it can provide up to 2,000 miles of solar range per year which is 1/3 of the average annual commute of most people.
Yeah but it's optional and they're only planning to produce 300 cars per day (announced in September) which sounds like a lot but a) they haven't done it yet and b) it's really not a lot in the first place and c) they won't all have solar panels (unless the optional upgrade is unexpectedly popular.
But yes, they could have dug deeper and found more companies putting solar in. Someone mentioned the new Prius has one. The Squad Solar seems like a more practical option to me.
The video doesn't really get across, that Sono and Lightyear only failed, because they didn't properly predict the costs of, nor get the money for, starting mass production. (if they had, they'd have succeeded and been profitable), and that the cars themselves, were perfectly good. It also massively misrepresents Aptera, which has been proven to be able to handle hills, just fine ...and makes no mention of the excellent Squad Solar. All in all, the video does more to misinform, than inform. It does far more harm than good.
You massively misrepretest Aptera, yourself. Aptera has proven nothing, and is reluctant to do anything beyond making pie-in-the-sky claims to con the gullible. Take, for instance, saying it could to 3.5 secs 0-60mph, then switching off the timing lights when it went down the drag strip? First time in my 70 years I have seen timing lights off at the drags.
They also made no mention of the fact that Aptera shut down and vacated their solar plant, and have rejected all the panels they made there as being unsuitable. They are not making better ones at Carlsbad.
If you look at their latest videos the cooling hoses are still not connected, Aptera not being honest again.....
@@aussieideasman8498 Several people have pointed out, in this comments section, that Aptera have shown one of their cars, going up and down hills, several times in a row, and how the initial failed hill climb, was because the cooling system wasn't turned on, because that's the kind of mistakes that happen, with prototypes.
As for the 0-60mph claim: Who cares? 0-60mph doesn't really matter. As for the solar plant thing... Do you know what exact aspect of suitability, that they were referring to? If not, then you have no grounds, for saying that others wont be more suitable.
Yes, the general concept works, but for example Lightyear first confirmed that we could test a prototype and then pulled out of it. Independent verification hasn't really taken place that much and the fact is that you can drive a solar powered car by putting PVs on your roof or putting PVs on parking areas today. In comparison to that the upfront costs for building an integrated solar car are enourmous and as we have seen time and time again, investors aren't willing to pay these prices. Also by using integrated solar cars, you're potentially loosing solar power that could've been used to support the overall powergrid. As of now, the concept only makes sense as a last option to be added to meet our growing energy demand
@@kaisteinecke8034
Yes i think the solar part should be only done on the roof, to trickle charge the battery, then you can keep it cheap and simple, total solar integration does not make sense.
The aerodynamic shape of the Aptera is what i like the most
The reason they’re not everywhere is the same reason they don’t come with pedals like a bike, except pedals aren’t as significant an investment.
You just don’t get much energy to do anything for the cost of having it. It NEVER pays off.
I'd like a car that folds out a solar array above it when parked. Maximising the catchment area and shading the car 😂
I've seen videos of people unfolding panels from the trunk of a Tesla. There was a van that had roof panels plus slide outs for both side. So it has three times the roof area.
Nothing prohibiting a detachable swivel solar roof. It's just no one thought of it - would be a bit challenging with the car on the move because aerodynamics but the roof could retract to its normal position after a certain speed is achieved let's say 30mph as with some convertibles that require the car to be below certain speed for the roof to open.
And you are adding even more weight on what are already heavy cars.
@@krisg.4257
I'm not saying when it's moving, when it's parked. I mean EV's are becoming successful because even a frequently used vehicle is probably parked in excess of 20 hours per day.
I was thinking same thing. That's all would need to do. Make the design more about charging the vehicle while at work or parked at home or elsewhere.
I'd like to buy land that can locate "solar roof" tech - that has a long stretch of solar catchment, plugged down to inverter/EV charger underneath. People could park their car there for the day at work, and charge. Rates at retail electricity & cost-effective undercover parking with security could make it a viable business
Thanks for a great report. I miss Sonos Motors :(
I miss Sonos Motors also. If Aptera succeeds it would be very likely investors will be hunting for Sonos to invest in.
@@benbrown8258 Sonos were actually trying to make a useful car. I like that Aptera exists, but even if they reach production which I would not put money on, their car is a bizarre oddity. Like buying an ICE vehicle. It's really not for normal human beings and it's too wide to be taken seriously as a vehicle by people who are not compensating for something.
The Squad Solar has some promise, but isn't a car. It's funny in one breath they said these don't work, in the next they showed examples of them working perfectly in Africa. Errr.... which is it? You just need a light enough, simple enough, vehicle to make it cost effective. And maybe some engineering chops that are focused on 'How do we get cost down?' and not, 'How do we make this look like something out of Buck Rogers and appeal to the petrol heads who want sleek lines and super speed and read every enlargement email they get in the hopes it's finally a thing they can get that works?'
Thanks for watching! 🚗
Yeah, a pure solar car is impractical. That is when all the energy is coming from solar panels On the car. I have a Chevy Bolt, and solar panels on my roof. I’d say this is a solar powered car. That said, I am excited to get an Aptera, and to power it from both its panels and the roof panels. Long trips, charging from super charges. Problem solved.
I have wondered why solar cars weren’t a thing since I was a kid. I understand why there might need to be additional fuel/electricity but there’s no reason solar can’t be added to cut down on fuel usage.
You would need a football fields worth in solar panels to make the car useable.
Adding solar to a vehicle helps. Using less power from the grid is a good thing.
Its called physics.
@@vic321344 Anyone familiar with the auto industry can think of many other reasons --- the actual reasons --- why we haven't had solar-assisted vehicles besides "physics." Sorry, but Aptera's numbers for the energy added by the solar cells do not defy the laws of physics. Does that bother you? Does the thought of reducing our dependence on fossil fuels make you feel sad?
I simply admire the person who created solar cars 60 years ago, before I was born.
The fact that solar cells existed around this time and the challenge of using them in cars right away is amazing.
Perovskite solar cells that can be bent freely are currently a hot topic in Japan, so I'm sure this will become a more realistic topic in the near future.
The problem is the lifespan of perovskite, but if it deteriorates after 6 years, I think it would be a good idea to replace one set of battery modules.
If you go shopping several times a week, you can use it without using fuel.
Normal cars are just too heavy for the surface area they provide to have much practical use.
Also the cells are too expensive and inefficient on a car. For that money you might as well put cells on your house with a battery and charging station.
I feel like there can be both a prius and stepvan concepts that can solar charge enough for 30 miles a day becoming quite common... And that is actually plenty to do a lot different things.. especially if you dont drive everyday or have any praticle way to plug it in aside from charge stations
Thank you. Is a hybrid solution the answer then? Generate as much energy as possible from solar and use the regular electric car setup for the rest?
I think both the cars featured had fairly large battery's and could plug in for charging. For sure the way to go, at a minimum for stormy days.
Are foldable roof solar panels the future of cars? When deployed, it can achieve 1500-2000 watts of solar charging power, with an average daily recharge range of 30-50 miles.
Just watched a clip on Chinese solar break through who can now make 38% efficient and next year plan to get into the mid 40s in efficiency. That is doubling the power of this car. Far out solar is breaking records
Yes. The efficiency will improve. How much energy conversion is photosynthesis? Mankind had figured out much science and technology. Look how much more efficient we made agriculture to feed billions of people. Solar panel efficiency will definitely improve significantly and be a game changer on many levels.
@@tw8464 do agree. Solar panels today are 23% efficient and china has just released a 34% with a promise of a low 40% efficent. Result is same 30 panels on the roof generates sameas todays 50 panels. Cars will have solar built into roofs that actually contribute to charging significanty
@lifeliver9000 thanks for pointing out the significant improvements in solar tech that have already happened/in process of being rolled out. Yes the trend will likely continue. I wouldn't be surprised if in a few years time, the solar panel efficiency improves to 75% or more. Couple that with improvements in battery technology, software, etc. I wouldn't be surprised if at some point solar on cars could charge much of the battery. Someone said their new Prius solar can charge enough to add 7 km to the range. So it's already a supplement. It's likely going to become possible before long to use the solar on the car to be able to get the charge for the range of most trips around town, using an ordinary car, that is most of our driving.
Considering the averagr commute, for most folls even 20 kilometres range a day in all conditions would be good enough. Doesnt increase yhe captital cost too much and cover 90% for normal commute
Excellent 👍
Thank you! Cheers! ☀
I think solar powered golf carts are going to be big somewhere.
In developing nations for every day people.
But otherwise mostly for city mail and parcel, and food delivery, because theyll be smaller and slower and not great for highways.
Squad Solar has a quadricycle that's similar to a 'golf cart' and I'm sure Floridian golf carts must sometimes come with solar by now. Not that they lack space in their swamps for solar on the roof and driveways but 'driving' golf carts as local electric vehicles is super common in some parts of that hellish state. You'd think they'd be obsessed with strong doors and reinforced windows with the native and invasive species that'll kill you as soon as look at you, but it turns out open air vehicles in hot sunny places just make you feel like Crockett. :)
@@jonevansauthor I mean could make a fully sealed golf cart vehicle. Only problem is heating in the winter
Getting the extra range to get home or the nearest charging hub is a game changer
-30 degrees in winter, sun shines 3 hours a day in winter, snow in the winter (doubt panels work when covered in snow). Three reasons I could think of why they aren't here atleast.
You need to live in a place that isn't crap. From QLD, Australia - apparently the prime location for solar and climate for longlasting EV batteries. 🌞
I'd like to see the surface area problem solved using deployable arrays. I don't think this would make a lot of sense on regular cars, but as an optional module you could mount to any car roof (like camping tents), it could make sense for camping or natural disaster situations. Might also work for RVs which have a higher ratio of being stationary to moving and would negate the need to carry around gas bottles or fossil fueled powered generators. Looks like some companies like Jackery are also teasing such concepts.
I have been watching the Lightyear story from nearly the beginning. I can't afford the €250K Lightyear One, but I'd buy a Lightyear 2 at €40K. I hope it happens. And that's not a pipedream. They're following the Tesla model. Tesla started with the Roadster that was crazy expensive and used cellphone batteries. That made them enough money to go on to produce the X, Y, S, and 3 at increasingly low prices and high volumes. It's a shame Lightyear doesn't look like it's going to get out of the gate with the big investment car. And why? Because the markets changed? How about some help, Dutch government? Aren't you proud of your native industries!?!
What saved Tesla in its early years were investments from Daimler (Mercedes) and Toyota. Forget government, they have to knock at other OEMs doors. Heard that a Chinese company was interested in SonoMotors automotive division. So...
Sounds like it'd be way more efficient to just make EVs and cover the parking lots with solar panels and charging stations? I get the appeal of UNLIMITED POWAAAA, but if the tech's not there, the tech's not there.
The tech is there. The cars mentioned here (and the Squad Solar), all prove that. Aptera can handle hills just fine, and the Sono Sion and Lightyear 0 only failed, because the manufacturers were no good, and overly optimistic, with the finance. (if they had, had the money to start mass production, they'd have been fine. And profitable) All the cars work perfectly well, and can drive on mostly/only solar. (and even just having solar cover a quarter of the energy, would be worth it)
@@ZarlanTheGreen Aptera hasn't proven to handle hills just fine - they need to do much more than the con job video they showed. And in any case, it's the motor and the battery combination that does that, not the solar.
@@aussieideasman8498 You make a baseless claim ...and then proceed to show, how it is completely irrelevant ... Also, you're weirdly obsessed with Aptera.
Well done.
In Malta we'll have full charge all year round. I'd love to own one hehe
I'm curious if adding solar to the electric delivery vans that are rolling out would be beneficial?
Neat in theory, but outside special cases like topping the back of a semi trailer with panels or an RV roof I don't think it'll ever add up to have solar panels on vehicles. Certainly not at current solar costs even far cheaper than they used to be, maybe ever--the energy gained is just so trivially small. Sounds like the mentioned studies didn't even account for the car getting dirty when parked outside to soak up that solar energy--might be a net negative environmentally just in your increased need to get carwashes, never mind the negative harmful effects to paint and general exposure parking outside vs in a garage and the fact that almost no one can park somewhere that'd be in direct sun all day every day (well, during daylight hours). I think the hypothetical projections are vastly better than anyone could ever achieve real world.
How can you forget the prius prime/phev
I'm curious... Has anyone experimented with wind cars? Like, a small horizontal turbine (the shape resembling what you see in a toy combine harvester, for example) fitted on top (or even underneath, if the height of the vehicle allows it) and working on the air drag/lift of the speeding car?
Hey there! Yes, there has been research and some even look like you would expect with a turbine on the roof. However, it does not seem as if wind-powered vehicles are coming any time soon.
Is this possible for scientists to make a layers of thin solar panels between them solar light transfer with the help of fiber wires or other way
To get more power in a small place
Why is there no mention, of Squad Solar?
We mention different use cases at the end of the video with smaller vehicles. Squad Solar goes into the same direction
@@kaisteinecke8034 There is a *_HUGE_* difference between mentioning distant possibilities (which it can technically be said to fall under), and *_showing the existing car._*
It has no less (people&luggage) space than the Aptera, and is closer to starting production. Yet you show Aptera, as well as the Sion, and Lightyear 0 ...but not the Squad Solar.
Why?
@@kaisteinecke8034 ...and also: "different use cases at the end of the video with smaller vehicles", applies *_EXACTLY THE SAME_* to the Aptera, as to the Squad Solar.
They can also add wind energy by fan in front under bownut at the place of radiator or ac fan , ND ALSO REGENERATION FROM WHEEL THIS WAY WE GET FROM 2 MORE ANOTHER WAY
Sonos car was a fundrais e d start up that newer gather enough money fir production. There is no will from the big companys to create this product. Thats the reason why we dont already have them.
One time I was in London and it rained the whole week so you will have to cover everything electrical. Now for some tea and biscuits
such a beautiful mission, but I believe it's best left as a supplemental source of energy for an existing charging infrastructure that uses preferrably other renewables as its main source of power.
I do believe nuclear should make a global come-back as a main-source and default for non-renewable sources of power. And that said, liquid fuels could still exist as well, albeit for more niche products, whereas most personal transportation should be electrified via battery storage.
Here is North America, we desperatly need a shift in mindset as our vehicles keep growing in size, weight and price. We have very few options compared to our friends overseas, especially in the world of hybridisation. Small vehicles with small batteries should be our focus.
I think the power the sun can provide on such a small surface area will never be adequate for the power required for cars unless one day we discover a way to harness more energy in a smaller space. It would be awesome if it were possible. For this to make a real impact it needs to replace our every day vehicles and be affordable to buy and own. I think we are nowhere near accomplishing this. But it's definitely worth working towards.
I think the whole concept is bad with our current technology.
I mean imagine in the summer. It has 30°C in the shadow. Where do I want to park my car ? Yeah you are right, I don't want it in the burning sun 😅
It is also a bad idea for parking decks, garages and so on which really limits the useability of those solar panels....
That's a fundamental misunderstanding about solar cars that they didn't clear up when talking to the solar car engineers who are working on cutting edge competition and R&D. The idea is NOT to power your entire possible driving range with the solar panel on your car. What this does for you is give you enough range to get to a charger, if you don't have home charging. It probably gives you enough to get to work, park, and charge up enough to get home. If it does not, you live too far from work.
No-one at Sonos or Aptera or Lightyear was expecting people to wait for their car to reach 100%, drive it for 200 miles, then leave it for ten days to recharge fully.
Now, don't get me wrong, there's all sorts of reasons it's pretty niche as an idea but it is only intended to give you enough per day to be useful. Bearing in mind most cars are only driven tiny ranges, that's an achievable future. Still doesn't mean it's more practical than other options (e.g. portable battery you pull from the vehicle, which is widely available and could carry the same 'range' even on larger vehicles).
It seems battery still seems the way to go, where people can charge their cars with their home batteries or from the grid powered by renewables. That being said I'm having with my battery bicycle and trains powered by overhead wires.
The only reason why solar and battery cars failed is their marketing error. And it will be a success if it is manufacture and market as alternative not a competition to fuel engine
This is a very interesting and great concept. However, I don’t think it would be realistic to see many of these vehicles around in the future. That’s mainly due to the high production costs, but also because of the various engineering challenges associated with building these vehicles. It’s still a cool concept though. The production quality of this video is wonderful. Props to the editors of this video for creating such an incredible documentary of this unique automotive concept.
Fisker does offer the option of solar roof and it adds 3k to the final price of the vehicle offering up to 2,000 miles of solar range per year in ideal conditions. The tech will only improve and get cheaper if more OEMs do adopt it.
@@krisg.4257 Wow, I didn’t know that Fisker is already implementing this technology at an affordable price. In that case, this might be a revolutionary technology that could change the automotive industry forever. Thanks for letting me know.👍
Youre better off making 3k of solar panels into a solar carport in your driveway, to park your car underneath and charge up.
Solar panels on vehicles will easily be damaged. The most affordable per watt solar panels are relatively heavy and best for mounting stationary on your house.
Solar is best left to large parks which can generate vast amounts of energy efficiently, even if the idea of a direct solar-powered car still seems like a good idea.... Although trucks look to be the exception since they have all those large flat surfaces on their trailers would could be used as large charging panels...
What about busses, they have massive roofs right
The cars mentioned in the video, as well as the Squad Solar, manage to drive on mostly/only solar, so you're obviously wrong. Especially as even having a quarter of the used energy, being provided by solar, would be a great benefit.
@@ZarlanTheGreen I don't get why nobody is talking about solar busses. Those have massive flat roofs for gods sake and Zero curves.And trains too, you could get a truly massive fuel savings on those.
Trains are already diesel electric or elctric so it's just plug and play
@@makisekurisu4674 You're certainly not wrong, but you're ignoring, that it is wrong to claim that it doesn't work for cars.
@@makisekurisu4674 No, solar buses are also stupid, the roofs are nowhere near big enough. You heard it in the video, the trucks only saved 5-10% in fuel and they're bound to be ridiculously expensive.
Starting a new car company is hard. And it might be too soon for mostly solar powered mainstream cars. But in general solar on cars will indeed be a thing in the not too distant future. Legacy automakers are already offering or planning solar on the roofs of some vehicles. Range anxiety, charging wait times during rush hour, things like perovskite PV and solar glass on the way, ever stricter emission laws. I could see 3-5 km a day from the sun(when its out) becoming worth the hassle real quick.
Interesting about the inverter controller cost issues but If you don't go crazy trying to squeeze every watt or slap a solar panel on every square inch and stick to a rear bed or roof, the cost and durability issues can be overcome.
And how much range would you get if you put the same amount of money to put panels on your roof? This system adds complexity, cost for a 5km range a day at best? If you put them on your roof you will have far better sun angle and it will be constant. Then plug your car at the destination and pay utility company for ship electricity from you home to your work place, or store, or where ever to charge your car away from home.
And when you really thing about 5km added range with about 25% efficient panels, lets even say it is 20%, in that case you are looking at about 25km added range a day if we ever hit 100%. That is worthless for long trips, 25km on 600km trip is a couple of minutes of charging at best these days.
But I'm very much in favor of solar powered vehicles, and we do have them, and they today have, what you call it infinite range. Electric trains utilize the power of national, or in some cases continent wide grids.
@@fulconandroadcone9488 Many people can't put solar on the roof of there home. I live in an apartment and I'm on Aptera's waiting list.
By the way, 100% efficient solar panels would have to defy the laws of physics.
My car never parks outside, there is not enough space to fit a proper amount of PV cells. Solved that by putting 30kWp PV on the roof of my house and using a 2nd life BEV battery as storage. Car is charged from the PV during the day. Works fine for 10 years now. 75% of all electricity comes from my PV for house, heatpump, cars. Greetings from not so sunny 52°N, PV works
Panels on the roof can help keep the battery from draining. i.e. Teslas lose battery if you use the security cameras etc...
That is actually the first valid reason for car solar.
I think there are and have been some people think the solar cars don’t have enough power for supporting the large weight transportations, and in some regions where they prefer transport productions during nighttime, especially in regions where people live in a relatively fast living speed or style, and where people’s lives with many uncertainties, the gas cars for them are better than the solar cars, however, I think if there are more solar cars being used, some regions some problems might be solved as well, such as air pollutions, sound pollutions or even some mental problems.
It is strange how many Aptera images are used and then just gloss over the company. Especially since the reported failure has nothing to do with solar technology. That was a battery management issue so kind of irrelevant to whether solar tech can function or not.
We need a "peoples electric car" with a utilitarian approach , something like a kei truck with one single large residential panel on the little vans roof, it would only be around 400/500w but they have a tiny 20ish kw battery and capable of 150/200km of range but use existing tech that could be made affordably and NOW. Mitsubishi already make something called a Miev Minicab for about 25 grand, update its battery, include a solar panel and charge its tiny battery up the rest of the time from those on your homes roof. Not as glamorous or profitable but that is why all these Ev makers go under and we dont have cars with solar still....
We don't need solar cars at all, it's a dumb and inefficient concept. A cheap electric car on the other hand, that's interesting.
Delivery vehicles sound like a good point for this. They tend to go solver, lots of stops in urban areas, just regen breaking makes a difference for those.
@@oyuyuyAdding solar to vehicles is a great idea. These small reductions in energy consumption add up.
@@netscrooge No, definitely not. Having to pay twice as much for the car while sacrificing range and precious space isn't a good tradeoff for having a trickle charge that allows you to plug in a few times less every year.
Letting cars be cars and power plants be power plants is a great idea.
@@oyuyuy Twice as much? Sacrifice range? Trickle charge? Are you getting paid to spread these ideas?
Hybrids are safer for privat persons in geografical aereas with limided access to full sunshine like in scandinavia if you want to tavel far or carry heavy loads. But many people use cars for shorter trips daily. As a teen I met a family in Norway that had a small solarcell car and a carport with solarcells too. This was in 1979! The car was not a fast car and could only drive about 40 kilometres but I was very impressed. A small car to be used for short distance to pick up children from school or daily shopping could be attractive if you coud make it less pricy. And what about boats?
Malaysia and thailand and Indonesia are good markets for solar cars/ hybrids with solar roofs....Please bring them here so see it can work. Countries in the equator benefit from this.
“The roof is wasted space.” Not really. The roof is part of the structural integrity of the car. Adding solar panels adds weight which partially eliminates their potential. What we need is a radical new innovation in solar technology. Something like spray on paint that can harness solar power.
As much as I love the idea, it doesn't take a lot of engineering to understand that even if solar panels were 100% efficient, it's currently impossible to have a mass production vehicle running purely on solar given the surface area vs weight and marketable (comfortable, AC, 80mph minimum, etc etc)
Aptera has already solved the overheating problem that caused the problem going uphill and has repeatedly demonstrated it in public tests. You really should mention that, since your video gives the impression that there are still fundamental problems with the design of their cars. Aptera is using Maxeon gen 3 solar cells, which don't cost anything near $35,000, since Aptera is selling its Launch Edition car for $33,200.
Any true experienced engineer of any field can agree! Any amazing project will never start perfectly. Great steps forward guys!
i did the math already... if i had an EV with roundabout 20kw/100km i could drive to work (15km both ways) for free for 6-7months a year with just 1 regular solar panel on the roof (425W modules are already really cheap these days)
Did Aptera refuse to talk to you?
Solar- powered cars don't work on cloudy days
would it be anything other than: The roof isn't big enough?
Misconception is that the more sun, the more energy solar panel produce. Which is wrong. Solar panels have efficiency range of temperatures and ideal temperature is about over 20 degrees Celsius. When solar panel is overhead its efficiency drops.
This is why Germany and Netherlands have more solar panels in use than e.g. south of Spain or Italy.
I'm sticking with my gas powered vehicles... don't have to worry about the weather, just add gas & go...
Cost versus benefit at a simple level - then the fact that current trends are towards massive SUV style cars which add weight and reduce efficiency. A rooftop and bonnet/hood panel would probably give many cars a decent enough free top up - the rest can come from more efficient fixed arrays - why bother with the expense of making a “solar car”?
I live in nova scotia where it's cloudy [thick] 70% of the time. the sun don't shine!!
Trucks with solar panel is a cool idea.... can be easily installed on existing trucks without much modification. And one use for solar power in car I can think of is in hot regions like India, where cars parked in open space get very hot.. so solar cells can be used to run the air conditioning in parked cars so that they are not hot when entering the car. this will neither drain battery nor gas / petrol.
Solar panels as options should be a norm. However, putting solar panels on homes or garages, building roofing, solar canopy, or flats should be the priority.
Cars are parked more than 95 per cent of the time they are owned, so using the wasted grid streams is an move that should not be overlooked.
Maybe solar on cars not as a primary directional shifter but as an add? Also, did you already watch these videos on solar from us? 🌤️ 👇
☀️ "Why we should be putting solar panels on our fields and lakes"
czcams.com/video/2hwpXCjmkRo/video.html
☀️ "How solar energy got so cheap, and why it's not everywhere (yet)"
czcams.com/video/sUvaYycoWqI/video.html
☀️ "This is what's REALLY holding back wind and solar"
czcams.com/video/u-DsDuTceTo/video.html
Good solar panels that dont break easily are heavy and better to keep stationary. A solar carport is a better idea than a solar car. So are solar canopies in parking lots.
If they don't break easily they could be suitable to be structural parts.
Seems uneconomic for cars. Most people could charge an EV with plenty of power for their daily needs, often from extra solar panels on their house. Larger vehicles might be a bit closer to possible. Caravans sound like a better option.
It doesn’t make much sense to carry all the extra weight of solar cells on cars or trucks when they often don’t produce energy, e.g. in winter, it’s easier and more efficient to cover roofs of buildings and use this energy to charge electric cars
Allow me to explain. Electric vehicles require high current, that is why you use batteries, it condenses the electricity from a lower current over time into batteries, providing higher current for the motors. Therefore, although having a solar array on the roof, could provide free energy, you still need to allow it to charge for a long time 24 hours or longer, and cannot use it during that time, since the whole point is to condense the low current solar energy.
Option 1: A 'solar car' for €100,000-€200,000, with 300km range and a billion compromises to make it work. Will need to be plugged in a few times per year anyway.
Option 2: An uncompromised electric car for €50,000 with 500km range and a $10,000 solar panel for your house. Car will need to be plugged in once a week but the panels also saves you €500-€1000 in household electricity every year.
Tough choice? Naa. Just let cars do what they do best and don't mix them with inefficient electricity production.
And on top of that you could add some battery storage, making you less suseptable to power outages and maybe even making the grid cleaner by prowiding some of that battery capacity to utility company. And you can also use that same grid to send power from your home to where you are chargin your car so you use it when it is produced.
Sono and Lightyear never independently proved their claims about solar efficiency. They went bancrupt before this could happen.
Totally skipped the most interesting parameter:
How many watts do the solar panels on the different cars produce?
Preferably with a derating curve referencing solar angle.
Refering to km/year is just meaningless data, trying to obscur how little power are actually feasable from such a small area of solar panels.
Well remove that panel from car, go full EV, increase more covered carpark with solar roof, put solar on you house roof (applicable for landed property only) and have power pack battery storage now you have EV with solar charging facilities.
This is the future of vehicles.
1kW/m^2, even at SQ limit & infinity junctions the best power will only about 0.87kW/m^2… Input power is the sin.
Love DW but seriously, you guys kinda did Aptera dirty on this one. You should cover them properly and you'll see just how close we are to the everyday solar car being on the roads everywhere.
Good for Norway s people
Een auto voor normaal gebruik voor meerde personen en bagageruimte is te zwaar, daarom moet je licht bouwen en zelf trappen, het is veel gezonder te trappen en dan solarpanelen gebruiken voor ondersteunen, en je moet genoegen nemen met een lagere snelheid, max 40 km/u hoger kost te veel energie, de mens moet zijn levensgewoontes veranderen.
Als je dat doet kun je nu al rijden met behulp van zonneenergie, ik rij daar al een paar jaar mee, tanken doe ik niet meer.