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It makes very little sense to be lugging solar panels around. It's just not worth it. Install them at home and charge. It might make sense if your vehicle is l

by Geee 6y ago

It makes very little sense to be lugging solar panels around. It's just not worth it. Install them at home and charge. It might make sense if your vehicle is large and mostly stationary in remote locations where electricity is not available. Anyway, I think this product is fake and scam.

baybal2 6y ago
> Anyway, I think this product is fake and scam. Indeed. I feel it is now like 1 in 3 EV projects as of late is a pure scam driven by stratospheric Tesla valuation.
- totalZero 6y ago
  The other 2 of 3 benefit from the torrential inflows of capital, and if one of them produces some clever engineering then perhaps it's a net win overall for society.
  - blablabla123 6y ago
    Exactly that. The situation has reversed completely compared to 10 years ago. From there we have "innovations" like the BMW i3 which seems to be exclusively used by their own car rental company because it's not a feasible product by itself.
  - Rule35 6y ago
    On the other hand, if a bunch of ... less than engineering experts ... run to try to copy Tesla (which is working on a whole other level making custom alloys, etc) they're just going to waste a bunch of money and ruin investor's trust in the market for better ideas. Far better to pick the thing you actually add and do just that. For these people, maybe it's the nicely conformal panel.
  - baybal2 6y ago
    The other 2 of 3 does benefit, but I wouldn't say they are much better other than not being an outright scam. Anything other than stratospheric sales from first year means they end up being dinner for existing manufacturers in low to mid-end. And if they don't beat Tesla in the high-end, means they are dinner for Tesla. Not to say a lion share of money still goes to people with zero automotive experience, or just above that of golf cart makers.
A12-B 6y ago
Uh, you aren't "lugging" solar panels around, they're built into the vehicle's exterior at seemingly no significant weight gain. I think you are too cynical
Retric 6y ago
PV’s are light and can in theory get you ~12k/year range. Assuming the car is parked outside it seems like a win over home instillation of charging port, inverters, panels, etc. Obvious downsides include significant increases in repair costs in the event of an accident etc. But, panels have gotten cheap enough that this is at least worth considering. PS: I agree it’s unlikely to turn into an actual product, but it’s at least theoretically possible.
- michaelmior 6y ago
  I drive a PHEV and I haven't really looked seriously and getting a charging port installed yet. Although it's slow, I can generally charge sufficiently off a regular 120V outlet to give me enough to avoid using gas for the day.
- SyzygistSix 6y ago
  In the suburbs, I would think that covering parking lots with solar panels would be more efficient. Especially in places like Florida and the SouthWest that can use more shade.
jack_riminton 6y ago
The panels wouldn't be that much heavier than a regular steel panel. The real weight is in the batteries. It's not a fake if its still in development, which it clearly is
- speedgoose 6y ago
  I agree solar panels' weight shouldn't be a big problem. About the fake, their car has suspiciously the same proportions than the BMW i3 and they have been accused of using many parts of an i3 in the past. But I want to believe they are trying for real. The i3 has a carbon fiber roof by the way.
  - riffraff 6y ago
    I am suspicious of this product, but using an i3 as base and just designing the photovoltaic cover seems like a good idea, they don't have to sustain the costs of developing a full electric car and can still deliver on their main value added (the "self charging" bit).
zksmk 6y ago
You're forgetting many people live in apartments in dense urban areas, and basically the only place they CAN put solar panels IS on the top of their car. Of course, they could just buy/use electricity produced elsewhere in dedicated solar farms, but that doesn't make you self-reliant, and could in theory cost the end user more money, depending on maintenance and cost of the vehicle.
- csunbird 6y ago
  You can not get good sunlight at dense places anyways. Almost always there is going to be a shadow.
  - zksmk 6y ago
    Undoubtedly for some cases, but I'm talking from my perspective of "commie-blocks” with large open green spaces between the towers. Sure you could in theory put the panels in those open green public spaces but that's neither legal nor would it jibe well with their whole raison d'etre.
- hexa00 6y ago
  These places also tend to have underground parking :(
  - mjhagen 6y ago
    or not much need for cars at all
    - SyzygistSix 6y ago
      This. We'll always need a certain amount of cars for delivery and people with disabilities but the majority of people can walk or bicycle in cities. It would do us some good, in fact. Not just the additional exercise but also bringing back a culture that is less in a hurry, less time -enslaved, and less disconnected from the outside. Our cultural disconnect from reality is as much at fault regarding global warming as our technology is.
xmdx 6y ago
Don't think it's fake, been in development for a while, here's a review of the car from 2 years ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLZKdkgB85k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLZKdkgB85k
rbanffy 6y ago
> Install them at home and charge This will only work in single-family homes. Where I live it's more common to have 4-floor buildings and street parking. In that case, the street gets enough sunlight for the car to charge enough for short-ish commutes (which are the norm for urbanites anyway). > Anyway, I think this product is fake and scam. I agree they are promising a lot, but they are not promising anything impossible. It's too soon to tell anyway and whoever invests in them must understand this is a high-risk/high-reward strategy.

by Geee 6y ago

baybal2 6y ago

> Anyway, I think this product is fake and scam. Indeed. I feel it is now like 1 in 3 EV projects as of late is a pure scam driven by stratospheric Tesla valuation.

totalZero 6y ago
The other 2 of 3 benefit from the torrential inflows of capital, and if one of them produces some clever engineering then perhaps it's a net win overall for society.
- blablabla123 6y ago
  Exactly that. The situation has reversed completely compared to 10 years ago. From there we have "innovations" like the BMW i3 which seems to be exclusively used by their own car rental company because it's not a feasible product by itself.
- Rule35 6y ago
  On the other hand, if a bunch of ... less than engineering experts ... run to try to copy Tesla (which is working on a whole other level making custom alloys, etc) they're just going to waste a bunch of money and ruin investor's trust in the market for better ideas. Far better to pick the thing you actually add and do just that. For these people, maybe it's the nicely conformal panel.
- baybal2 6y ago
  The other 2 of 3 does benefit, but I wouldn't say they are much better other than not being an outright scam. Anything other than stratospheric sales from first year means they end up being dinner for existing manufacturers in low to mid-end. And if they don't beat Tesla in the high-end, means they are dinner for Tesla. Not to say a lion share of money still goes to people with zero automotive experience, or just above that of golf cart makers.

A12-B 6y ago

Uh, you aren't "lugging" solar panels around, they're built into the vehicle's exterior at seemingly no significant weight gain. I think you are too cynical

Retric 6y ago

PV’s are light and can in theory get you ~12k/year range. Assuming the car is parked outside it seems like a win over home instillation of charging port, inverters, panels, etc. Obvious downsides include significant increases in repair costs in the event of an accident etc. But, panels have gotten cheap enough that this is at least worth considering. PS: I agree it’s unlikely to turn into an actual product, but it’s at least theoretically possible.

michaelmior 6y ago
I drive a PHEV and I haven't really looked seriously and getting a charging port installed yet. Although it's slow, I can generally charge sufficiently off a regular 120V outlet to give me enough to avoid using gas for the day.
SyzygistSix 6y ago
In the suburbs, I would think that covering parking lots with solar panels would be more efficient. Especially in places like Florida and the SouthWest that can use more shade.

jack_riminton 6y ago

The panels wouldn't be that much heavier than a regular steel panel. The real weight is in the batteries. It's not a fake if its still in development, which it clearly is

speedgoose 6y ago
I agree solar panels' weight shouldn't be a big problem. About the fake, their car has suspiciously the same proportions than the BMW i3 and they have been accused of using many parts of an i3 in the past. But I want to believe they are trying for real. The i3 has a carbon fiber roof by the way.
- riffraff 6y ago
  I am suspicious of this product, but using an i3 as base and just designing the photovoltaic cover seems like a good idea, they don't have to sustain the costs of developing a full electric car and can still deliver on their main value added (the "self charging" bit).

zksmk 6y ago

You're forgetting many people live in apartments in dense urban areas, and basically the only place they CAN put solar panels IS on the top of their car. Of course, they could just buy/use electricity produced elsewhere in dedicated solar farms, but that doesn't make you self-reliant, and could in theory cost the end user more money, depending on maintenance and cost of the vehicle.

csunbird 6y ago
You can not get good sunlight at dense places anyways. Almost always there is going to be a shadow.
- zksmk 6y ago
  Undoubtedly for some cases, but I'm talking from my perspective of "commie-blocks” with large open green spaces between the towers. Sure you could in theory put the panels in those open green public spaces but that's neither legal nor would it jibe well with their whole raison d'etre.
hexa00 6y ago
These places also tend to have underground parking :(
- mjhagen 6y ago
  or not much need for cars at all
  - SyzygistSix 6y ago
    This. We'll always need a certain amount of cars for delivery and people with disabilities but the majority of people can walk or bicycle in cities. It would do us some good, in fact. Not just the additional exercise but also bringing back a culture that is less in a hurry, less time -enslaved, and less disconnected from the outside. Our cultural disconnect from reality is as much at fault regarding global warming as our technology is.

xmdx 6y ago

Don't think it's fake, been in development for a while, here's a review of the car from 2 years ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLZKdkgB85k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLZKdkgB85k

rbanffy 6y ago

> Install them at home and charge This will only work in single-family homes. Where I live it's more common to have 4-floor buildings and street parking. In that case, the street gets enough sunlight for the car to charge enough for short-ish commutes (which are the norm for urbanites anyway). > Anyway, I think this product is fake and scam. I agree they are promising a lot, but they are not promising anything impossible. It's too soon to tell anyway and whoever invests in them must understand this is a high-risk/high-reward strategy.