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How come no one is building a portable EV Charging kit with a bunch of panels you can spread around the area. Maybe in the 1000-4000$ range. It’s strange there

How come no one is building a portable EV Charging kit with a bunch of panels you can spread around the area. Maybe in the 1000-4000$ range. It’s strange there’s nothing in between roof top solar for your whole house and a dinky panel built into your car roof.

JKCalhoun 4y ago
I imagine those would get swiped pretty fast.
driverdan 4y ago
Because it doesn't make any sense. No one is going to put up and take down a giant solar panel array to charge their car.
- steveBK123 4y ago
  Yeah but what about a wind vane that deploys from my car roof to re-charge my battery while I am driving? /s Also what about if we also put solar panels in front of the the headlights so we can charge the car in the dark? /s
  - twobitshifter 4y ago
    Wind powered cars are possible and pretty cool. Turbines could use the apparent wind to generate just the same way it’s used by sailboats to go faster than the wind. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jyQwgBAaBag https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jyQwgBAaBag
    - steveBK123 4y ago
      dude I was making jokes about perpetual motion machines
AdrianB1 4y ago
They are an electrocution hazard, the voltage on a string of panels is several hundred Volts, enough to die. One can build a fool-proof system, but the current devices and connectors are meant for static configurations handled by a qualified installer. You can DIY, but most people cannot do that safely. Also a 500W panel is ~ 20 KG (~45 pounds) and an MPPT can exceed that weight. For a car with a battery that is tens of KW, any portable system that is less than a few KW is not very useful, charging the car 5% per day is not feasible for most.
steveBK123 4y ago
Why portable? Are you going to tow it around? With what, the car you are trying to charge super slowly.. but have no increased its driving consumption rate by 100%? You can simply get a ground based solar install at your home if you can't install on your roof. But really $1000-4000 does not buy nearly as much solar as you are assuming. Go google "off grid solar kits". You are better off hooking that up to your home than your car, as the hours it is generating power your car may not be home. If you add a battery to try and solve that problem, the battery will consume 90% of your budget. Don't forget there are fixed costs like the charge controller, and any electrical work to tie the solar array to your home. So your fixed costs alone are in the $1000-3000 range.
tbrownaw 4y ago
That sounds less like a car-related thing and more like a general-purpose "here's a solar-powered standard electric outlet".

JKCalhoun 4y ago

I imagine those would get swiped pretty fast.

driverdan 4y ago

Because it doesn't make any sense. No one is going to put up and take down a giant solar panel array to charge their car.

steveBK123 4y ago
Yeah but what about a wind vane that deploys from my car roof to re-charge my battery while I am driving? /s Also what about if we also put solar panels in front of the the headlights so we can charge the car in the dark? /s
- twobitshifter 4y ago
  Wind powered cars are possible and pretty cool. Turbines could use the apparent wind to generate just the same way it’s used by sailboats to go faster than the wind. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jyQwgBAaBag https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jyQwgBAaBag
  - steveBK123 4y ago
    dude I was making jokes about perpetual motion machines

AdrianB1 4y ago

They are an electrocution hazard, the voltage on a string of panels is several hundred Volts, enough to die. One can build a fool-proof system, but the current devices and connectors are meant for static configurations handled by a qualified installer. You can DIY, but most people cannot do that safely. Also a 500W panel is ~ 20 KG (~45 pounds) and an MPPT can exceed that weight. For a car with a battery that is tens of KW, any portable system that is less than a few KW is not very useful, charging the car 5% per day is not feasible for most.

steveBK123 4y ago

Why portable? Are you going to tow it around? With what, the car you are trying to charge super slowly.. but have no increased its driving consumption rate by 100%? You can simply get a ground based solar install at your home if you can't install on your roof. But really $1000-4000 does not buy nearly as much solar as you are assuming. Go google "off grid solar kits". You are better off hooking that up to your home than your car, as the hours it is generating power your car may not be home. If you add a battery to try and solve that problem, the battery will consume 90% of your budget. Don't forget there are fixed costs like the charge controller, and any electrical work to tie the solar array to your home. So your fixed costs alone are in the $1000-3000 range.

tbrownaw 4y ago

That sounds less like a car-related thing and more like a general-purpose "here's a solar-powered standard electric outlet".