SOLAR

Electric cars are already far more efficient at using energy to create movement than their energy squandering internal combustion cousins. Ensuring this energy is produced from clean sources is another matter. The generation of electricity still comes in most cases from non-renewable and fossil fuel sources. What’s the point of zero emissions cars if fossil fuel electricity stations provided the power? Actually, it’s still better than internal combustion and in future blogs (and in the book) I will explain how and why it’s getting better. But what if the car could generate its own renewable energy from the obvious candidate…the sun? Those crazy looking one-man solar cars from the Australian World Solar Challenge races you may have seen are of course impractical, but what if a practical everyday solar car could be created? Wouldn’t that solve our CO2 problem from cars overnight?

One such start-up, Lightyear, successfully raised another big investment round of $48m for the development of its luxury segment solar car. I came across Lightyear several years ago. The Dutch start-up has a roadworthy, working prototype electric sedan with its entire roof and rear coated in solar cells.  To be clear, this is not a solar-only car, it is a battery electric vehicle chargeable through the normal methods; the solar element is more of a free ‘top-up’.

For Lightyear’s Lightyear One, they claim their solar roof can add 30-40 miles (50-65kms) of range per day during direct sunlight in summer months. The Lightyear One is a sleek, large executive class sedan. Foregoing the rear window in favour of the continuation of solar panels, Lightyear One will have cameras for reversing and parking. The concept for the car originated from the three-time winners of the World Solar Challenge team from Eindhoven, NL. The story is about efficiency. Aluminium and carbon fibre construction provide the Lightyear One with a super lightweight body. With enough sun, the solar array could give this car about 10,000 free miles per year of range. The car also continues to receive electrical charge from the sun while driving.

The benefit of this technology is likely to be adopted, in some part, by other automakers in the future. With continual improvement in solar cell efficiency, it is very likely that solar will feature in some way on your future electric car. When the cost economics work, it is very exciting to think that while parked on the side of the street, on a sunny day, you’re gaining free miles with absolute zero emissions. For those living in sunny locations it is conceivable that Lightyear owners would rarely ever charge their car, except on long journeys. This is not a car for the mass market, with an estimated price tag of around €150,000. This will appeal, as the Tesla Roadster did in 2008, to wealthy buyers, and novelty enthusiasts and may help spark a wider mini-solar revolution.

Aiming at the mass market and car sharing economy, German start-up Sono motors is producing an entirely different electric solar car concept with the entire car having solar panels. The doors, side body panels, roof and trunk are covered in solar cells. This is not an executive styled sedan, it’s a boxy people carrier, a small mini-van concept. The team have, like Lightyear, really doubled down on efficiency, using lightweight materials and weight saving features wherever they can to produce a highly efficient machine. Sono claim almost all average daily commutes could be powered by the sun, even in winter.

Named the Sion with a target price tag of $25,000 or less, this car aims to be mass market. Thanks to a bi-directional charger the Sion will be able to power other electric cars – in theory a Solar Sion could fully charge any EV given enough time and sunlight.

Both Lightyear and Sono are pioneering companies, at the leading edge of solar car technology, although it may be a while before they become mainstream and practical at the right price point.

Other pure electric car start-ups are also beginning to incorporate some solar feature and  acknowledging the potential of solar, even if limited, Elon Musk has offered a solar roof option on the upcoming CyberTruck providing around 15 miles of range per day from sunlight.

Not limited to just the surface area of the vehicle, fold-out solar ‘wings’ have also been touted as a potential solar capture solution. Many concepts have been developed to act like convertibles, with the solar ‘wings’ folding out of the trunk, in a satellite dish fashion.

I will cover later the challenges of EV charging at home, particularly if you don’t have access to a charge point, but for average daily commutes, solar charging could be a practical solution.

Solar cells do add weight, cost and complexity to a car, but this is offset by the absolute zero emissions gain. It looks like solar, in some form, is now here to stay. As solar cell technology and battery efficiency continue to improve, a percentage of miles driven by sunlight is likely to become a normal part of our future driving.