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It's not about substituting charging stations. It's about getting _part_ of your energy requirements from the panels. Check the figures in the grandfather comment: energy gains are in the ballpark of 1000 miles / year.


> energy gains are in the ballpark of 1000 miles / year

That's not a small amount. The US DoT puts average US driving at around 13,500 miles/year. In Germany (Sono Motor's home market) it's 8,000.

So we're talking meeting nearly 7.5% of US, and 12.5% of German, average driving needs. Just from sticking a solar panel on the roof of a vehicle.


That's absolute best case for panels producing peak power at all daylight hours. 500 miles/year is more likely for a car parked outdoors away from shade during all daylight hours, based solely on panels not being at peak production. Then there are cloudy days, shaded spots, garages, tunnels, overpasses, dirt, bird poop. Then there is the difference between estimated miles and actual miles based on real driving habits. Then you have to consider any potential body damage that could occur, that will at best reduce the solar gains and at worst render the system useless or total the car.

If a car in a real scenario get more than 3% of it's miles from these panels I would be surprised.




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