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Short version: * EVs are already ridiculous heavy. * $2000 is a blip in the price of a car and will be recouped. * You often don't have a choice whether to p

Short version: * EVs are already ridiculous heavy. * $2000 is a blip in the price of a car and will be recouped. * You often don't have a choice whether to park in sun or shade. At least a solar roof gives you some benefits. * Large percentage of the world don't get to decide to have chargers at home/work.

Teever 4y ago
If the extra cost is $2000 and a solar equipped car will recoup at best $50/year as OP stated then $2000/$50/year is 40 years to best case time recoup the cost of the panels. Also you don't seem to be aware of this but $2000 is a lot of money to some people -- It's more than they spend on personal transportation.
powera 4y ago
Nope. * The attitude "$2000 is a blip" is why electric cars are expensive. * People without home electricity (or who live in dense urban areas without parking) are not the market for the car at this time. There is no reason to make everyone else suffer out of theoretical concern for people who don't even own cars now.
- threeseed 4y ago
  * You will recoup the $2000 in reduced electricity costs. * People without home electricity are exactly the market for this car. * Who is suffering exactly by offering this as an option ?
  - steveBK123 4y ago
    $2000 of electricity would take these cars 40 years to generate. Their warranty will be up in 4 years, and they will be in the scrap yard by 15 years, at best.
  - causality0 4y ago
    Two grand in electricity from a couple square meters of panel will take an incredibly long time. Like an idiotically long time. This is a scam marketing ploy and nothing more.
steveBK123 4y ago
Even level 1 charging off an extension cord on 110V charges 4x faster than these solar panel ideas would, adds no weight, works in any light conditions.. therefore overnight, and works with the included wall adapter all EVs come with. $2k on a target $35k mass market EV is not insignificant. I still stand by the idea that the Venn diagram overlap of "people who can't charge in their own home or work, even on L1" and "people who live somewhere rural/suburban enough to have completely open to the sun parking" is quite small. L2 charging at a the grocery for 30-45min while you shop will get you as much charge as these solar roof pipe dreams would get you in an entire work week parked in a sunny field of dreams.
- eternityforest 4y ago
  They say you get 2.5 miles a day or so in full sun. Lots of people drive only a few miles a day. I don't know if it actually matters, but for marketing purposes the ability to drive without the grid might be a good promo, especially when they can probably still bring the costs down a lot. Hard to imagine a blackout so long that this would make a difference, that still involved having places to go inside the city, but in theory it could be useful. Plus it's not from fossil fuel, which you probably care about if you bought an EV.
- deleted 4y ago
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mikestew 4y ago
$2000 is a blip in the price of a car and will be recouped. Probably won’t be recouped while you own it. It’ll be many years down the road. TFA covered this, perhaps a rereading is in order. Because what I’m hearing is “every little bit helps”, when in fact that’s not practically true.
PragmaticPulp 4y ago
The parent comment had good analysis. Your “short version” is wrong. > $2000 is a blip in the price of a car and will be recouped. If a $2000 price increase saves $50/year (approximate numbers) then it would take 40 years to pay back. But solar panels degrade over timeframes that long. It also introduces complexity, so the average cost of ownership goes up as owners must repair broken panels, deal with water intrusion from a solar panel roof having more failure points than a solid roof, pay more expensive collision repair costs and so on. The mere existence of a solar roof would increase cost of ownership significantly. Solar panels to charge EVs just doesn’t make engineering sense.
- messe 4y ago
  > But solar panels degrade over timeframes that long. Not to mention the rest of the car.
- sokoloff 4y ago
  I can make $73/yr from $2k invested in 30-year Treasuries. The $50/yr from solar panels will literally never pay off against a risk-free, weight-free, maintenance-free, depreciation-free, liquid investment that’s 50% better financially.
- mitthrowaway2 4y ago
  I don't bring a $200 solar panel camping with me because I think it will save on my monthly electricity bill compared to getting those joules from the household outlet. I bring it with me because the household outlet is not available at my camp site. Similarly, in this case, I think "saving $50/year" is the wrong comparison. Its value comes from adding charge to the battery in locations where you probably don't have the option to pay the meter price.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]

Teever 4y ago

If the extra cost is $2000 and a solar equipped car will recoup at best $50/year as OP stated then $2000/$50/year is 40 years to best case time recoup the cost of the panels. Also you don't seem to be aware of this but $2000 is a lot of money to some people -- It's more than they spend on personal transportation.

powera 4y ago

Nope. * The attitude "$2000 is a blip" is why electric cars are expensive. * People without home electricity (or who live in dense urban areas without parking) are not the market for the car at this time. There is no reason to make everyone else suffer out of theoretical concern for people who don't even own cars now.

threeseed 4y ago
* You will recoup the $2000 in reduced electricity costs. * People without home electricity are exactly the market for this car. * Who is suffering exactly by offering this as an option ?
- steveBK123 4y ago
  $2000 of electricity would take these cars 40 years to generate. Their warranty will be up in 4 years, and they will be in the scrap yard by 15 years, at best.
- causality0 4y ago
  Two grand in electricity from a couple square meters of panel will take an incredibly long time. Like an idiotically long time. This is a scam marketing ploy and nothing more.

steveBK123 4y ago

Even level 1 charging off an extension cord on 110V charges 4x faster than these solar panel ideas would, adds no weight, works in any light conditions.. therefore overnight, and works with the included wall adapter all EVs come with. $2k on a target $35k mass market EV is not insignificant. I still stand by the idea that the Venn diagram overlap of "people who can't charge in their own home or work, even on L1" and "people who live somewhere rural/suburban enough to have completely open to the sun parking" is quite small. L2 charging at a the grocery for 30-45min while you shop will get you as much charge as these solar roof pipe dreams would get you in an entire work week parked in a sunny field of dreams.

eternityforest 4y ago
They say you get 2.5 miles a day or so in full sun. Lots of people drive only a few miles a day. I don't know if it actually matters, but for marketing purposes the ability to drive without the grid might be a good promo, especially when they can probably still bring the costs down a lot. Hard to imagine a blackout so long that this would make a difference, that still involved having places to go inside the city, but in theory it could be useful. Plus it's not from fossil fuel, which you probably care about if you bought an EV.
deleted 4y ago
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mikestew 4y ago

$2000 is a blip in the price of a car and will be recouped. Probably won’t be recouped while you own it. It’ll be many years down the road. TFA covered this, perhaps a rereading is in order. Because what I’m hearing is “every little bit helps”, when in fact that’s not practically true.

PragmaticPulp 4y ago

The parent comment had good analysis. Your “short version” is wrong. > $2000 is a blip in the price of a car and will be recouped. If a $2000 price increase saves $50/year (approximate numbers) then it would take 40 years to pay back. But solar panels degrade over timeframes that long. It also introduces complexity, so the average cost of ownership goes up as owners must repair broken panels, deal with water intrusion from a solar panel roof having more failure points than a solid roof, pay more expensive collision repair costs and so on. The mere existence of a solar roof would increase cost of ownership significantly. Solar panels to charge EVs just doesn’t make engineering sense.

messe 4y ago
> But solar panels degrade over timeframes that long. Not to mention the rest of the car.
sokoloff 4y ago
I can make $73/yr from $2k invested in 30-year Treasuries. The $50/yr from solar panels will literally never pay off against a risk-free, weight-free, maintenance-free, depreciation-free, liquid investment that’s 50% better financially.
mitthrowaway2 4y ago
I don't bring a $200 solar panel camping with me because I think it will save on my monthly electricity bill compared to getting those joules from the household outlet. I bring it with me because the household outlet is not available at my camp site. Similarly, in this case, I think "saving $50/year" is the wrong comparison. Its value comes from adding charge to the battery in locations where you probably don't have the option to pay the meter price.
deleted 4y ago
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