Honestly it seems like a no-brainer to me to put a solar panel on the roof of electric cars to increase their action radius, so I figured there’s probably one or more good reasons why they don’t.
Also, I acknowledge that a quick google could answer the question, but with the current state of google I don’t want to read AI bullshit. I want an actual answer, and I bet there will be some engineers eager to explain the issues.
I remember looking at the Prius and it had a solar roof option. I remember reading a MotorTrend article about it. They had to make a lot of assumptions like 12 hours of sun everyday no exceptions and just to break even from the cost of the roof option it would take 5+ years. So not really worth it. You’d be better off just paying for the electricity or putting solar on your house and charging with that.
Edit…words missing
the solar panel was just to run a 12V fan to keep the car cool in the sun. it didn’t charge any batteries.
The title of the article I linked and its subtext is
“The 2023 Toyota Prius Prime Could Take 3 Weeks to Recharge—Without Plugging In
Or, put another way, you can get more than 1,000 miles of free range in a year.”
It most definitely charges the battery.
ah, they’ve gone back to the idea! Sorry, yeah, the only-runs-a-fan was an older model of Prius. Circa 2014.