Solar Panel on Roof????

[Tosh]

In order to match the curve of the roof, the panel would have to be a flexible one, and in my experience they only put out half the power of a rigid panel and have about 1/4" of the lifespan ( have 5 dead ones on my 10 year-old RV ). No way to make that work for charging the HVB and though it can be made to charge the LVB, the cost is just way to high for ROI.

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[ChrisO]

You want a car that can run on solar, here is your car.

 

[ChasingCoral]

You mean something like this - https://gosun.co/products/ev-solar-charger ? I'm not sure I'd want that on my car...

They look great on Teslas. They almost hide the fact there's a Tesla under there

 

[ChasingCoral]

You want a car that can run on solar, here is your car.

The Aptera is a great example that, indeed, the OP's suggestion can be done. It just wouldn't be practical.

 

[devmach-e]

You want a car that can run on solar, here is your car.

The Aptera is still vaporware... I highly doubt it ever makes it into production. Or if it does, the company will deliver a few token vehicles and then go belly-up.

 

[khbkhb]

If it's setup to trickle charge the 12v then I say it's a good idea. You'll never get anything useful for range out of it, but in terms of keeping your 12v healthy it's useful.

For trickle charging the 12v battery, you don’t need to replace the moonroof. I used to use a small dash sized panel, it sufficed to keep a ’76 Accord’s battery happy during periods of non-use in a sunny environment. Also worked for my CB550 ;>

For the main pack, if it was really important to charge off-grid, I’d go with one of those portable car port-like things, have multiple panels (on its roof, and possible a vertical tower as some studies suggest those work well) and then you’d probably be able to get a bit more miles and not mess up the MachE roof ;>

That would be a picey and annoying to setup solution, but if you planned a multi-day backpacking trip, it could allow you to get some useful miles while you are off hiking.

 

[khbkhb]

The Aptera is still vaporware... I highly doubt it ever makes it into production. Or if it does, the company will deliver a few token vehicles and then go belly-up.

Sad, and probably true. But let’s be optimistic … say they do succeed, note it is a much smaller and lighter vehicle (so requires less power to charge). That one CAN engineer the entire system to usefully run off of solar power doesn’t mean retrofitting it to an existing design is going to easy (or practical given current technology).

 

[ChrisO]

Sad, and probably true. But let’s be optimistic … say they do succeed, note it is a much smaller and lighter vehicle (so requires less power to charge). That one CAN engineer the entire system to usefully run off of solar power doesn’t mean retrofitting it to an existing design is going to easy (or practical given current technology).

What I always think about when I see a vehicle like this is that I wouldn't want to be in it when one of the huge trucks or SUVs slams into it.

 

[khbkhb]

Well, multiple decades of motorcycling has reduced the terror of small cars for me. Having everyone drive a huge tank doesn’t make society safer (or more efficient). But for any given person, being in the tank helps ;>

Anyway, we’ve strayed off topic. This is the MachE forum, not the Aptera fan/foe reddit thread. I suggest we stop here ;>

 

[devmach-e]

Sad, and probably true. But let’s be optimistic … say they do succeed, note it is a much smaller and lighter vehicle (so requires less power to charge). That one CAN engineer the entire system to usefully run off of solar power doesn’t mean retrofitting it to an existing design is going to easy (or practical given current technology).

It's a niche vehicle for a niche market segment in a niche vehicle market. Auto-cycles have never done well to begin with.

 

[devmach-e]

Anyway, we’ve strayed off topic. This is the MachE forum, not the Aptera fan/foe reddit thread. I suggest we stop here ;>

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[moritzes]

You must be new to the Internet...

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