Enteligent now has a DC-DC Solar EV charger for pre-order

[TaxmanHog]

That 1.6 kWh seems useless. But over 365 days, that's 584 kWh, or almost 4.5 Lightning ER battery fills every year.

First year operational cost of energy $1 KWH, I'd like to know the durability of a solar panel with daily vibrations caused by New England pothole hits, the g-forces the glass substrate would need to survive .... call me pessimistic but I think it would be good for 1-2 years before failure and replacement!

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[invertedspear]

I disagree that the weight of the panel and inverted wouldn't impact overall range, but we're working with fuzzy numbers anyway, and I think that factor would get lost in the fuzz. I also disagree with your 1.6kWh number. It's sunny AF here, and the most efficient panel on my roof yesterday generated 2.7 kWh. Aimed well into the sun, always has sun on it. I think even getting half that when you're talking something mounted flat or integrated into the truck that's not always parked in 100% sun. Even 1.3 kWh/day is optimistic IMO before you factor in the cloud cover and whatnot most the rest of the country gets, which cuts your yearly down to 474kWh.

OK, but let's forget all that and go with your numbers. Electricity costs vary, but if I didn't have solar I'd be charging at my super off-peak time and paying $0.08/kWh. Which means the cost that this system would save me is $46.72/year. The cheapest way for me to get the 444 embedded Watts is some panels at home depot that generate 100 Watts each for ~$125, so let's round and day this system is going to cost you $500 and not even consider the rest of the costs of making this work. Total cost has a 10 year ROI. This tracks with my home solar system ROI, 10 years for a house system ROI is fine, it's often a lifetime investment. 10 year ROI on a vehicle component? Really doesn't seem worth it.... yet.

I think we'll get to the point where Solar on cars makes sense. A lightweight motorcycle class vehicle like Aptera promises, I think it will be great. Telo's mini truck might also make a lot of sense. Both of which will still make even more sense as tech improves solar efficiency. For the F-150s, I just don't see it.

 

[On the Road with Ralph]

This is really interesting. I have a home in California's Mojave Desert where it rains down sunshine almost every day. At per-kW utility costs starting at 16¢ and going WAY up from there, DC-to-DC is a charging solution worth penciling.

 

[queuewho]

I'd just like to have a small panel that keeps my 12v topped up.

 

[Church]

Mobile Solar is never going to happen in a fashion that has meaningful power output.

Agreed

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