PARIS:Startups and major carmakers are starting to incorporate solar panels on their electric vehicles, an addition that extends the range of the cars even if perpetual motion remains a dream.
As it rolls under the blistering sun of northern Spain, the Lightyear 0 generates enough electricity every day to drive 70km, thanks to the five sq m of solar panels integrated into the hood and roof.
The company was founded by young Dutch engineers who earned their spurs in running solar cars in races across the Australian desert.
Thanks to the drop in the price of solar panels, Lightyear is trying to incorporate them into road cars.
With its sleek, aerodynamic line and motors integrated into the wheels, the Lightyear 0 consumes less energy than electric SUVs.
Coupled with a battery that offers 625km per charge, the company said some customers who drive only short distances each day may only need to charge intermittently.
“The clock is ticking, we need to have sustainable cars as soon as possible,” one of the founders, Lex Hoefsloot, told AFP.
“Charging points are still a big hurdle. If we don’t need them, we can scale electric cars much quicker,” he added.
Lightyear targeted the top-end of the market with the 0, with the 1,000 or so cars produced setting back buyers €250,000 (RM1.16 million) – the equivalent of a Bentley.
The company hopes to launch a mass-market model with a price tag of €30,000 euros in 2024-2025.
Going mainstream
As sales of electric vehicles are soaring, a number of models with solar panels are expected to arrive in dealerships in the coming months.
Toyota is now proposing solar panels as an option on Prius hybrids, as well as its first 100% electric vehicle, the BZ4X. Tesla also plans to offer solar panels as an option on its pickup that is due to hit the road next year.
The solar panels will give the Lightyear 0 enough electricity to drive 70km each day. (AFP pic)
Mercedes, meanwhile, equipped its luxurious EQXX with solar panels in the roof. The sedan, sleek like the Lightyear, has a range of 1,000km.
The cost of adding solar panels to cars has now fallen to several hundred US dollars, a small amount compared to the overall cost of most models.
“Solar is now so inexpensive that even in imperfectly sunny locations, it’s worth putting solar on,” said Gregory Nemet, an expert at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“The value of putting solar on cars is that it can extend the range of the car,” he added. While it may not be able to fully charge the battery in a day, “it can provide enough energy to get home”.
Solar panels can at least help provide enough electricity to run the air conditioning in the vehicles, noted Gautham Ram Chandra Mouli, a specialist on electric mobility at Delft University in the Netherlands.
Parking problems
Drivers will likely want to run the air conditioning as they will have to park in the sun to get a good charge. That could pose problems for some city drivers with parking spaces in garages or sheltered lots.
The season is also an important factor: drivers in northern Europe will get much less of a charge from integrated solar panels in the winter than during the summer.
The California startup Aptera, which has 25,000 orders, designed its futuristic three-wheeler to be highly efficient to get the most from solar power.
Its two-seater vehicles, which should begin to be delivered to buyers this year, can get over 60km of travel from its panels.
Depending on the model, which cost from US$26,000 (RM114,000) to US$46,000, the cars can travel 400-1,600km on a full battery charge.
The cost of covering a car with solar panels has fallen to several hundred US dollars. (AFP pic)
German firm Sono Motors has taken a more classic approach with its compact minivan, the Sion. A boxy, black five-seater that screams family car, it is completely covered in solar panels.
“We developed a technique that allows covering all the car” with the panels, said co-founder Jona Christians.
The first Sions should be delivered next year with a pre-order price of €28,500. The firm already has 18,000 such pre-orders and hopes to manufacture over 250,000 vehicles this decade.
The Sion is also being designed to offer different functionalities from its battery, including powering other devices and charging other vehicles. It can even give power back to the grid.
Elsewhere, Dutch firm Squad Mobility is targeting a different market – what it calls sub(urban) mobility.
The Squad Solar City Car may resemble an enclosed golf cart, but the two- or four-seat vehicles can zip around fast enough and have enough room to make completing many urban errands convenient.
With the solar panels in the roof, the vehicle can generate enough power to travel 20km a day in Europe.
The company says such microcars travel around 12km per day on average, meaning most users won’t need to charge it daily.
“Solar panels will get more affordable, drivetrains will get better,” said Squad Mobility chief Robert Hoevers. “Sooner or later you’ll drive every day on solar.”
