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As a person who lives in SF, doesn't have a garage, owns a model 3, and uses outdoor street parking, I have to disagree. The convenience of not having to period
by CephalopodMD 4y ago
As a person who lives in SF, doesn't have a garage, owns a model 3, and uses outdoor street parking, I have to disagree. The convenience of not having to periodically go to a charging station and pay a major premium for that electricity might be well worth it.
Where I usually park, it's sunny 90% of the time, not too hot, and mostly unshaded. This sounds pretty close to optimal, so according to the article I could probably expect to be topped off most of the time with a good panel setup.
I probably drive around 50 miles a week (not counting longer road trips) and lose charge while parked as well. Accordingly I charge up once every 2 weeks or so for about $15-20. That's about $400 a year. Not even accounting for the help on longer road trips, that makes things financially worth it in just 4-6 years for me. That's not even to mention how much more convenient and time saving it could be.
I think the thing that would have me most concerned is the possibility of having my car broken into and losing the panels to theft... So probably a pipe dream for now.
- num3ric 4y agoAuthor: who lives in an apartment anyway?
- amarant 4y agoThe reason solar on your car doesn't make sense is because the extra weight will end up costing you more energy than it brings. You simply don't get enough area on a car for the charge generated to be in any way significant. The extra couple of kgs won't use much extra energy to lug around either, but unless you drive very very little, it's likely to be a net loss in the end. Even ignoring any risk of theft, it's not worth it.