Why don't electric car manufacurers put solar panels on the car roofs?
Why don't electric car manufacurers put solar panels on the car roofs?
Honestly it seems like a no-brainer to me to put a solar panel on the roof of electric cars to increase their action radius, so I figured there's probably one or more good reasons why they don't.
Also, I acknowledge that a quick google could answer the question, but with the current state of google I don't want to read AI bullshit. I want an actual answer, and I bet there will be some engineers eager to explain the issues.
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Assumption:
Someone crams a 300 watt solar panel onto the roof of their EV and manages to integrate it into the charging system so that it's pretty efficient to use that power.
Numbers:
One hour of good sunshine on the 300 watt panel = 300 watt-hours (Wh).
Average EV energy usage : 200Wh per kilometre these days. Maybe a little more, maybe a little less, depends on how and where you're driving.
Result:
One hour of perfect sunshine hitting the roof of your car equals 1.5 kilometres of extra range, or you can drive your car in a steady-state fashion at a 3-5 kilometres per hour because an EV is more efficient than the average usage at lower speeds.
Conclusion:
Probably better off increasing the storage capacity of the battery as a full day's sunshine will get you about 10 kilometres of range.