Posted on 07/07/2019 7:09:46 PM PDT by ETL
Big deal.
Lots of cars have sunroofs.
Bird poop magnet.
I bet that car is smaller than my polaris ranger
Reminds me of what they used to call birth control glasses.
Cool! Good idea.
Bah.
Cars generate wind when they’re in operation. Just put a wind turbine on ‘em...
There is no reason in the world for FReepers to disparage what might be a viable energy source.
Will acidic bird crap eat through the top layer
I am all for a free market private car company making this car a buyable option for those that want it.
How the heck should I know?
Not that new of an idea! Mazda put a solar roof panel on it’s 929 in 1992 to run an AC or charge the battery.
Not enough surface area to generate any significant energy compared to typical vehicle use.
It’d be fine if I only used the car to get my mail at the end of the driveway.
Why not wind-up cars ,LOL
With a super efficient new type of solar cells (34% efficient), they estimate:
“The new system will provide up to 44.5 km (27.7 miles) of additional range per day while parked and soaking up sun, and can add up to 56.3 km (35 miles) of power to both the driving system and the auxiliary power battery on board, which runs the AC, navigation and more.”
So if you have a short commute to work, you might conceivably continue to go there out of force of habit, for up to ten years after a Mad Max type of societal collapse, which dries up fuel supplies.
Or they could make some ultralight go carts for urban short trips, that could use that amount of power as their primary fuel, with a plug-in secondary - maybe just a regular 110v plug.
For an electric car this would seem to be a no brainer. I always thought a solar panel covered carport would be a way to passively recharge an electric car. My money is on hydrogen fuel cells. But the hangup for that, once again is cost and infrastructure. Hydrogen fuel cell cars already have a range similar to gasoline vehicles, and refueling them is no more difficult than a gas car.
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