Hi, while looking for a good ev for my family, i came across this new KIA van. Its kinda like the VW ID buzz but seems to have more space. When I saw the wide roof I thought, why not but some solar on top? And with some rough calculation I came up with the following. 3 600w/800w panels which generate roughly 15km of range on an average eu day, would fit on top. This would be perfect for my regular driving needs. Has anyone ever tried to add solar to an ev and has anyone experience with this car?
Just looking for general advice on feasibility of solar mods and the car itself.
The problem with putting high output panels on a vehicle is weight and durability. The panels plus equipment could add more than a hundred kilograms, ruin the aerodynamics, wear the vehicle out faster, and installation would require heavy modifications inside and out. So your efficiency return would be much less than you think.
Could you do it? Sure, but you would need to be willing to sacrifice a vehicle because no one will want it after it’s done, except maybe for someone who wants something to tinker with.
Just a guess but manufactures don’t build solar panels into cars for a few reasons.
-Vehicles tethered to a fuel source like gas or electricity keeps people spending money and companies and governments love it when people spend money.
-The vehicle would need to be designed around the solar panels which makes design more difficult and costly.
-The solar panels could act as a back up for running the computer and accessories but wouldn’t ever generate enough power for driving, so why bother when they can just make the main battery a little bigger.