Comment Re:Really? (Score 2) 78
We've had solar cars before. But forget about who's first. The issue with solar cars is that the surface area of the panels is not enough to produce any meaningful amount of energy. Unless you only drive a mile or two with days of parking in between, solar cars are a gimmick.
I’ve been following Aptera for years. The model with the most solar panels (on roof, dash, hatchback, and hood) is projected to be able to gain ~40 miles of day in range straight from the sun in optimum exposure conditions, and they are planning models with up to around 1000 miles of range (although they are starting at a sweet spot of 400 miles to balance range and affordability). This might seem unrealistic, until you realize that the car runs on less batteries than any other EV due to its aerodynamic profile, which beats aircraft specs and drastically cuts down on total vehicle weight. A 42 kWh pack achieves 400 miles, in a vehicle weighing about 2,200 lbs, roughly half an average EV. A Tesla Model 3 Long Range uses ~82 kWh for similar range. The damn thing has a drag coefficient of 0.13 — lower than any production passenger vehicle ever built, and closer to aircraft specs than anything with four wheels and a license plate. Or three wheels, as it so happens.