Why Don’t We Have Solar Powered Cars?

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This video is brought to you by Skillshare. Electric vehicles are gaining in popularity,   but not everyone is on board. One of  the big perceived drawbacks is how long   it takes to charge them and having access to  somewhere you can plug in to get that charge.   If you live in an apartment building or the  city, charging can get a bit challenging.   But what if you didn’t have to plug in  your car to charge? Some companies have   solar-powered cars available for pre-order  today, but what’s the reality behind these   cars? Can they really provide enough power to fit  the bill, and at a cost that won’t break the bank? I'm Matt Ferrell. Welcome to Undecided. The automotive industry is still in the early  phases of transitioning over to electric   completely, which will most likely take another  decade or two. We’re seeing the rate of adoption   towards battery electric vehicles (BEVs) increase.  Between 2020 and 2021, EV sales around the globe   jumped 108%, reaching 6.75 million units in 2021.  Out of those, 71% were full BEVs, not hybrids.   For comparison, in 2012 the total number sold was  125,000. However, BEV manufacturers still have   challenges around consumer perception on issues  like short driving range and long charging times. That’s where solar power  may offer a few advantages.   I’ve seen this question raised on a  bunch of my electric vehicle videos.   Why not just stick solar panels on your car?  With a significant decrease in solar panel costs,   a lot of EV charging locations and parking lots  are installing solar canopies. I see them a lot   around where I live. Integrating directly onto the  car itself seems like a great option, because in   theory you wouldn’t need to even plug your car  in in the first place. But what’s the catch? First let’s take a step back and look at when  the concept of adding solar panels to cars began,   and how it’s fared so far. The history of  solar-powered cars goes back to the 1950s   with William G. Cobb from General  Motors. Granted, calling this a car   might be a little bit of a small exaggeration.  It was a tiny 15-inch model car powered by   12 selenium PV cells and an electric  motor. More like a car for squirrels. The first human-sized model showed up in  1962. It was a 1912 vintage model Baker   that was converted by International Rectifier  and powered with 10,640 individual solar cells.   If we jump ahead to 1980, a team from Tel Aviv  University in Israel developed a solar car that   was powered with 400 W of solar cells, but it  wasn’t exactly a beautiful car. It was a car only   a mother could love. With solar panels strapped  to the roof and hood, it had a range of about 50   miles and a top speed of 40 mph. It wasn’t going  to win any races or gain any points for style. In the years that followed, most  solar-powered cars were designed   at universities for racing purposes  and pushing the technology forward,   but none could be considered a viable passenger  vehicle. Things like range and weight capacity   just weren’t there. However, in the last  few years, some companies are starting to   push the idea that solar panels on cars  might be viable for a consumer product. Solar-powered cars offer several benefits. Just  like any other battery powered EV, they're silent,   have zero emissions, and require less maintenance  compared to internal combustion vehicles.   Recharging the batteries with solar power from  the car's roof can lead to fewer charging stops.   If the car could be completely charged from the  sun, there would be no “fueling” costs to run   the car … in theory. The question remains: can  the solar panels actually provide enough power? In a nutshell, solar panels generate  electricity to charge a battery pack,   which in turn is used to provide  the power needed to move the car.   While some of the prototype racing cars from  universities I mentioned directly power the   car from solar panels without the need for  a battery, the cars coming to market still   use a battery pack. All of these cars can still  be plugged in and charged up like any other EV. Although there's a massive amount of energy to  be extracted from the sun, current solar cell   technologies still have fairly low efficiency ---  usually around 15-25% for solar panels --- which   can make the math for how much electricity  you can generate given the amount of space   … challenging. Cloudy weather, haze,  low sun angles and other issues mean   that you might not generate enough  electricity to charge the batteries. So let’s break that down and attach a few  numbers to the problem. How much area is   available for solar panels on a car? Now, I’m not  a mathematician, but let’s use the same line of   thinking as Engineering Explained when he tried  calculating this ... with some modifications.   Let's use the top area of a Tesla Model 3, which  is about 8.7 m². Let's say that about 60% of that   area is usable roof space. If we covered that  entire area with solar panels, in the perfect   scenario (where we'd make flat earthers happy  using a cross-section of the earth) the energy   coming from the sun would be 1.36 kW/m². The  solar panels could generate 7.1 kW in total. For a 75 kWh battery pack, the solar panels could  fully charge the batteries in about 10.5 hours. I’m not a flat earther and we’ll be driving  this fictional car on the surface of a sphere,   which means we’d only get  about 340 W/m² (4π.radius²),   but it actually gets worse than that. Only about  55% of the irradiance would hit the car's surface   since a significant portion is reflected back  into space or absorbed by the atmosphere.   So a 20% efficient solar cell would give us  about 37.4 W/m² in a more realistic scenario. We also need to consider the efficiency  of the battery charging system. Let’s   be generous and say it’s 95%.  The results: about 185 Watts. So to fully charge a Tesla Model 3’s battery  pack, you might need about 405 hours. That’s about 17 days to fully charge the car. Not  bad if you drive infrequently, but impossible if   you have a regular Monday to Friday commute. Oh,  and results may vary, depending on your location,   which impacts the sun's angle on the  solar panels, time year, weather, etc. You’re not going to be 100% independent from  plug in charging. All of this sounds like   a pretty damning conclusion that solar  panels on a car just don’t make sense.   Even so, the companies that are starting  to push this technology are tackling a few   things my extremely rough  math haven’t factored in. But before we get to that ... and also related  directly to it ... if you want to really learn   more about engineering and designing solar  energy systems, you might want to check   out the "Ultimate 2021 Solar Energy Course  For Electrical Engineering" at Skillshare.   It's one of the many reasons I'm so happy to  have Skillshare sponsoring this video. If you're   anything like me, then you like learning new  things. Skillshare has built an incredible online   learning community with thousands of classes  to learn new skills in a wide array of topics. For me, I've been trying to streamline my YouTube  video production process, and one of the classes   I keep coming back to is Marques Brownlee's,  "YouTube Success: Script, Shoot & Edit with   MKBHD." It's probably obvious why I was interested  in this, but I'm always trying to find the thread   or story to weave through each video, just  like this one. It's been super helpful for me. Everything on Skillshare is focused  on learning, so there aren't any ads   and they're always launching new premium classes.  Every time I log in there's something new that   catches my eye. And for the non-English  speakers out there, the entire catalog is   available with subtitles in multiple languages.  The first 1,000 people to use this link will   get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare.  Thanks to Skillshare, and to all of you,   for supporting the channel. Now back to the  companies pushing solar technologies on EVs. In 2017, the German startup Sono Motors, unveiled  their first prototype of an electric car with   solar recharging, the Sion. The EV has 248  solar cells integrated into the body of the car   that can boost driving range by 112 km (~70 miles)  per week on average, but could go as high as 245   km (~152 miles) per week in peak conditions.  Using a fast-charging station to top up,   Sion takes about 35 minutes to fill the 54 kWh  battery pack to 80% state of charge. The total   driving range for the car is about 305 km (~190  miles) and has a top speed of 140 km/h (~87 mph). Sono Motors has already made  pre-orders available for Sion,   but the production isn’t set to start until 2023  with a purchase price of €28,500 (about $32,361).   The company plans to deliver the  first 14,000 reservations in 2023.   In addition, they're also evaluating  solar integration into large vehicles.   For example, by integrating thin-film solar panels  onto a truck with a 13-meter trailer, under peak   conditions in Munich, the roof and sides equipped  with solar cells could generate 82 kWh per day.   This could result in up to 80% saved energy cost  for refrigerated trailers compared to diesel. There’s also the SUV market. In 2021, Fisker  revealed the Ocean SUV with a solar roof.   The company's SolarSky roof technology can produce  energy to provide between 1,500 to 2000 miles   (~2,400 - 3,200 km) a year. They have five models  with driving ranges between 250 and 440 miles. They start at $37,499 and go up to $68,999.   The start of production is scheduled for the  end of 2022 and they just recently announced   that they have over 31,000 reservations  (about $1.7B in potential revenue). Again,   you’re not going to cover all of your daily  driving needs, but make a small dent in it. Another company developing solar electric cars  is Lightyear, which unveiled the Lightyear One   in 2019. This is where the potential  range generated per day takes a turn.   Their long-range solar-electric car has five  square meters of a patented double-curved   solar array that achieves 215 W/m². According  to the company, 1 hour in the sun can provide   about 12 km (~7 miles) of range, and at the  end of the day, this can result in 70 km   (~43 miles) of extra range. That’s basically the  average number of miles driven per day in the US. One of the big reasons for the high range  added per day doesn’t come from the solar   panel efficiency, but the cars' efficient  use of that energy. It uses about 83 Wh/km.   Compare that to the Tesla Model 3 at about 167  Wh/km. It's expected to reach a driving range   up to 725 km (~450 miles) based on the Worldwide  harmonized Light vehicles Test Procedures (WLTP).   So take that with a grain of salt until we  see real world results. The downside for those   incredible numbers? The selling price for their  car is about €150,000 (equivalent to $170,321)   excluding taxes … but it’s expected to be  available to customers starting this summer. On the flipside of those great mileage and  efficiency numbers are some of the bigger auto   manufacturers, like Hyundai and Mercedes, who seem  to just be slapping solar onto existing designs.   A limited edition version of the 2022 Hyundai  SONATA Hybrid is equipped with a 22.8%   efficient solar roof that, under ideal conditions,  will increase the driving range by 2 miles   per day. This kind of highlights the difference  between slapping solar panels onto an unoptimized   car design vs. building a new solar powered  car from the ground up with efficiency first.   However, these are a bit easier on the wallet,  starting at $35,550. Mercedes Vision EQXX is in   a similar boat, albeit a little bit better  for range added. The 117 solar cells on its   roof will provide about 25 km (~15 miles) of  extra range in a day under ideal conditions. This brings us to the solar powered car company  that’s really lighting up the competition:   Aptera Motors. This is where the think outside the  box, build from the ground up approach really hits   its stride. This futuristic three-wheeler has  been designed to be extremely energy-efficient,   being able to reach up to 1,000 miles on a single  charge. One of the keys to that incredible range   is its light weight, weighing 65% less than  a common EV. Combine that with its efficient   drivetrain and aerodynamics and you’re using only  30% of the energy of current EVs and hybrids.   This is not just about slapping solar panels  on a car, but rethinking the whole approach. How much range would you get with its 700 Watts  of solar cells? I live in Massachusetts, so let’s   use that as an example. If I drove 30 miles a  day, considering the local sunlight conditions,   I may only need to charge an Aptera about  twice per year … in theory. It’s capable   of providing 16-40 miles of extra range to  the car depending on the conditions. After   some fits and starts the company finally  opened up pre-orders in December 2020.   Aptera’s production and first deliveries  are expected to start this year with a   price ranging from $25,900 to $50,700. That’s  the best price to range of the entire lot,   but it’s also an incredibly unique looking  car, which might not be your cup of tea. The big issue with most of these models is  that they can't be completely solar powered,   but they can make a dent in the amount of plug-in  charging you’d need. There’s also the issue of   limited real estate available for solar cells  to be integrated onto the surface of the car.   Transparent solar panels could be used  for vehicle windows to produce power,   but as we saw in my video on that  technology, current transparent cells   have much lower efficiencies and  power densities than silicon cells. The combo of limited surface  area, low solar panel efficiency,   and vehicles that aren’t designed  from the ground up with this in mind,   makes this not as compelling from a cost  benefit perspective. However, for vehicles   that are purpose built for this, like Aptera or  Lightyear, the numbers look a lot more appealing. So do you want to own a solar powered car? Do  you think we’ll see more of this in the future?   Jump in the comments and let me know. And if you  have knowledge on this, or work in the industry,   please share your experience so we can  learn more together. You can also join   my Discord server and talk to other members of  the community. The link is in the description. And thanks as always to my patrons and a big  welcome to new Producers 4 Fission NOT Fusion and   David Hailey. All of your direct support really  helps with producing these videos and to reduce   my dependence on the almighty YouTube algorithm.  Speaking of which, if you liked this video be sure   to check out one of the ones I have linked right  here. And subscribe and hit the notification bell   if you think I’ve earned it. Thanks so much  for watching and I’ll see you in the next one.
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Channel: Undecided with Matt Ferrell
Views: 1,215,887
Rating: undefined out of 5
Keywords: car, co2, electric car, electric cars, electric vehicles, lightyear one, plug in charger, plug in charging, solar, solar car, solar car history, solar charging, solar energy, solar panels, solar power, solar powered car, solar roof, sono sion, undecided with matt ferrell
Id: SgQ2T5g3Rn8
Channel Id: undefined
Length: 13min 18sec (798 seconds)
Published: Tue Mar 22 2022
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