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Anyone Familiar with "Go Sun"? It's a portable solar charger for cars. (www.youtube.com)
submitted 3 months ago by to c/electricvehicles@slrpnk.net
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https://gosun.co/

Basically its a roof rack solar panel with a battery inside (includes AC outlet), extra fold out panels that cover the length of the car, and a charge cable for the car. They're about $5000 USD and are shipping the first ones out in Q3 this year.

As someone who lives in an appt and commutes, this would make an electric vehicle much more viable as there is no charging stations in my building or at my work. I saw this and immediately began researching what vehicle models would be coming to Canada in 2028.

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[–] 3 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (4 children)

That almost certainly hurts your efficiency via aerodynamics, thereby reducing your range more than it recharges over an arbitrary period of time.

Maybe useful if you're going camping or drive rarely and leave your car outside.

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  • [–] [S] 3 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    Yea he addresses that in the video. Below 80kpm it's negligible and above you're looking at about a 10% loss in range.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago* (2 children)

    That 20mi/day value they claim on the site is more of an optimistic "up to" value than a realistic one, especially depending on weather and actual sunlight hours each season.

    Most newer EVs are coming out with ranges > 250mi, so that 20mi/day is below the 10% reduction for 80kpm. 80kpm (49.7mph) is below the typical highway speed in the US, so unless you're only driving in cities or generally go slow, it will likely hurt more than it helps in daily use.

    That said, it would be great if you frequently leave the vehicle sitting outside for an extended period of multiple days, or potentially as a generator for off-grid use (e.g. camping). Still not convinced it is worth the cost for that, though.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    Gotcha. Ya this is what I was looking to hear from ppl.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago

    Yeah, it's unfortunate. Solar panels have made some great strides in efficiency over the last several years, but it's still not quite to the point where it's properly useful in this application.

    Not to be pessimistic, but we may never get to that point- to some degree, you simply need more surface area than a car provides.

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