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There's a guy with a Tesla around the corner from me, who does this (cable out the 2nd floor window), and he does park on the street. Not sure what he does if h

There's a guy with a Tesla around the corner from me, who does this (cable out the 2nd floor window), and he does park on the street. Not sure what he does if he can't get a space close enough. (A neighborhood of row houses with little off-street parking) I think the car makers have to accelerate integrating solar charging into their cars. You probably wouldn't get 100% of your charge that way, but you could get enough to substantially reduce dependence on the grid.

lonelappde 7y ago
Leaf had a solar charger as a gimmick. It doesn't work. There isn't enough panel space.
- tigeba 7y ago
  The Leaf solar charger is for the 12 volt system, which is separate from the main battery. I can't really conclude if it is a gimmick or not but my 12 volt battery has not yet died. To be fair, the car also charges the 12 volt battery when it is plugged in.
davrosthedalek 7y ago
I wonder what pedestrians et al. think about the cable running across the sidewalk. I don't think this solution scales well, also from an insurance perspective.
- stcredzero 7y ago
  There was a time when I was renting a room in a house in East Oakland. The home owners had a traffic cone, and I used one of those cable-covers to cross the sidewalk. I never had a problem, other than overhearing a young woman who lived next door call me, "That douchebag with the electric car."
  - ghaff 7y ago
    To be perfectly honest, the comment seems rather deserved. It certainly doesn't scale if everyone does it.
- roel_v 7y ago
  My neighbor does this as well. He does cover the cable with a piece of vinyl. I see him dicking around with his extension cord and vinyl several times a week, and then he tells me how charging EVs is totally not a problem and how convenient his car is. In the mean time I spend 5 mins every 3-4 weeks to fill my car up with diesel and I'm good for another 8-900 km. I wouldn't want an electric car today if I got one for free (well then I'd probably take it, I'm Dutch after all)
- notJim 7y ago
  Someone in my old neighborhood did this too. It generally seemed like a pretty bad idea, but it didn't actually bother me.
justin66 7y ago
Not substantially, no.
duskwuff 7y ago
> I think the car makers have to accelerate integrating solar charging into their cars. Nah. Solar on cars is a dead-end -- even with perfectly efficient solar panels, a clear sky, and the sun at the zenith, the most power you can possibly get is 1.3 kW/m² (cf. [1]). I don't know exactly how large of a solar panel you could put on a car, but even with a huge 5 m² panel, you'd still be looking at over 12 hours (i.e, multiple days of charging) to charge a Tesla's 85 kWh battery. With realistic panel efficiency and sun conditions, it'd take even longer. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_constant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_constant
- NullPrefix 7y ago
  > over 12 hours (i.e, multiple days of charging) to charge a Tesla's 85 kWh battery. The tone is somewhat pessimistic. Full charge every two-to-three days for a range of ... what is it? 265 miles? Effectively untethered car if you only need 50 miles daily.
  - duskwuff 7y ago
    Again, keep in mind my numbers are assuming a large, perfectly efficient solar panel under ideal conditions. Realistic numbers will be much worse. For example, most commercially available solar panels are 20-25% efficient.
    - NullPrefix 7y ago
      1.3kW/m^2 * 20% efficiency = 260w/m^2 260w/m^2 * 5m^2 = 1.3kW 1.3kW * 4 hours daily sun = 5.2kW/day 265 miles range / 85kW full charge capacity = 3.1 miles/kW 5.2kW/day * 3.1 miles/kW = 16.12 miles / day Still sounds too good, what did I miss?
      - thfuran 7y ago
        That initial 1.3kW is ignoring atmospheric absorption. You lose some 300 W even at zenith without clouds. More if you're really far from the equator and/or it isn't currently solar noon. If you're in a city, you may be in shade a lot and certainly don't have the sun at its zenith for 4 hours regardless.

lonelappde 7y ago

Leaf had a solar charger as a gimmick. It doesn't work. There isn't enough panel space.

tigeba 7y ago
The Leaf solar charger is for the 12 volt system, which is separate from the main battery. I can't really conclude if it is a gimmick or not but my 12 volt battery has not yet died. To be fair, the car also charges the 12 volt battery when it is plugged in.

davrosthedalek 7y ago

I wonder what pedestrians et al. think about the cable running across the sidewalk. I don't think this solution scales well, also from an insurance perspective.

stcredzero 7y ago
There was a time when I was renting a room in a house in East Oakland. The home owners had a traffic cone, and I used one of those cable-covers to cross the sidewalk. I never had a problem, other than overhearing a young woman who lived next door call me, "That douchebag with the electric car."
- ghaff 7y ago
  To be perfectly honest, the comment seems rather deserved. It certainly doesn't scale if everyone does it.
roel_v 7y ago
My neighbor does this as well. He does cover the cable with a piece of vinyl. I see him dicking around with his extension cord and vinyl several times a week, and then he tells me how charging EVs is totally not a problem and how convenient his car is. In the mean time I spend 5 mins every 3-4 weeks to fill my car up with diesel and I'm good for another 8-900 km. I wouldn't want an electric car today if I got one for free (well then I'd probably take it, I'm Dutch after all)
notJim 7y ago
Someone in my old neighborhood did this too. It generally seemed like a pretty bad idea, but it didn't actually bother me.

justin66 7y ago

Not substantially, no.

duskwuff 7y ago

> I think the car makers have to accelerate integrating solar charging into their cars. Nah. Solar on cars is a dead-end -- even with perfectly efficient solar panels, a clear sky, and the sun at the zenith, the most power you can possibly get is 1.3 kW/m² (cf. [1]). I don't know exactly how large of a solar panel you could put on a car, but even with a huge 5 m² panel, you'd still be looking at over 12 hours (i.e, multiple days of charging) to charge a Tesla's 85 kWh battery. With realistic panel efficiency and sun conditions, it'd take even longer. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_constant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_constant

NullPrefix 7y ago
> over 12 hours (i.e, multiple days of charging) to charge a Tesla's 85 kWh battery. The tone is somewhat pessimistic. Full charge every two-to-three days for a range of ... what is it? 265 miles? Effectively untethered car if you only need 50 miles daily.
- duskwuff 7y ago
  Again, keep in mind my numbers are assuming a large, perfectly efficient solar panel under ideal conditions. Realistic numbers will be much worse. For example, most commercially available solar panels are 20-25% efficient.
  - NullPrefix 7y ago
    1.3kW/m^2 * 20% efficiency = 260w/m^2 260w/m^2 * 5m^2 = 1.3kW 1.3kW * 4 hours daily sun = 5.2kW/day 265 miles range / 85kW full charge capacity = 3.1 miles/kW 5.2kW/day * 3.1 miles/kW = 16.12 miles / day Still sounds too good, what did I miss?
    - thfuran 7y ago
      That initial 1.3kW is ignoring atmospheric absorption. You lose some 300 W even at zenith without clouds. More if you're really far from the equator and/or it isn't currently solar noon. If you're in a city, you may be in shade a lot and certainly don't have the sun at its zenith for 4 hours regardless.