Awesome Tips Check Out Solar EVs, Aptera, Lightyear 0 and The Sono Sion
A holy grail on par with the nuclear cars of years past, solar electric cars don’t claim to do all their driving powered by the sun, but maybe all the driving you really need.
A holy grail on par with the nuclear cars of years past, solar electric cars don’t claim to do all their driving powered by the sun, but maybe all the driving you really need.
0:00 Solar cars
1:03 Lightyear 0 Solar EV
3:18 Sono Sion Solar Car
5:26 Aptera Solar Vehicle
8:15 Is a Solar EV the choice for you
10:02 Solar can be a safety net to reduce range anxiety
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Deals for Days. Big home savings are happening now.
Are you trying to say " niche " ?
There is no T in "niche".
Of the three, i think Aptera is the only one with great market potential — Lightyear bing too expensive and Sono being too primitive. Already amazing from an engineering standpoint, Aptera's new production model has impressive aerodynamic improvements and things like skin-heat exchange (to avoid aero looses inherent in a radiators)
Where I retired from had a 10 floor indoor parking place but we could park on the top floor & get sun all day.
Of the three, it looks to me like Aptera is the way to go. It's like the designers started with the laws of aerodynamic design and then built an electric/solar EV into that equation. Now that makes sense for a solar assist car since the tepid energy source is greatly enhanced by light weight, a low drag coefficient, and one less wheel on the pavement. I think I will reserve one.
It's great that you are covering solar cars. However your presentation is a bit misleading. You seem to imply that the solar "range" of these vehicles is a seperate system to the car's batteries rather than the solar cells providing an alternative charging option to the standard level 1, level 2, and DC fast chargers. All 4 charging options will accomplish the same thing, namely charging the car's battery banks. And regardless of how you charge the car you will be driving by draining the cars batteries. Solar is a charging option, and does not power the car directly.
I wonder if the Aptera will work in a regular car wash. I'd hate to have to hand-wash that thing all the time.
I ordered an aptera, not very optimistic about it but I do hope it makes it to production. It super efficient and spacious at the same time
I disagree with you, I believe that Aptera will indeed turn the electric vehicle industry on it's ear. Not by the solar charging system, that's just icing on the cake, but rather by the vehicles efficiency. Aptera's efficiency is like a two way street. Not only are you efficient traveling further down the road using less energy, but when you charge due to the efficiency your able to recover more miles of range per kilowatt of energy you put back into the battery. For example my not so efficient 2015 Nissan Leaf on level 2 public charging gets about 19 miles of range per hour of charging. The Aptera on that same level 2 public charger would get somewhere around 80 miles of range per hour, and for DC fast charging it would get around 500 miles per hour. So due to the efficiency of Aptera, your spending less time at the charging station…. that's huge! And being able to drive for weeks, maybe even months without ever plugging in, so long as your commute is less than 40 miles per day….??? IDK…. I'd say that's turning the industry on it's ear. Just my two cents.
0:07 I thought nuclear cars were my idea! Guess we can cross that one off the list. ☹️
My parents are the perfect market for Aptera. Retired, no daily commute, and when they do drive, it is less than 75 miles. They invariably let their cars sit for several days in the TX sun between drives.
Another issue with most EVs is they lose charge just sitting. Problem solved with onboard solar.
Thanks for sharing
Solar cars are waste of money and time in my opinion. Solar panels on cars now are mainly covering for the short comings of battery storage technology and good PR rather than being a second option and they don't give a meaning only with super efficient car ( basically non practical cars ).. the likelihood of having a 1000 mile battery storage technology in a non efficient car (practical) is much higher than having a high efficiency solar panel based on where the money and investment is going today… also the most expensive solar panel today have a 40 to 50% efficiency, so the best scenario for solar is doubling their capacity while with battery will be quadruple and more … so if you want to sell a competitive car now and in the future you are better without a solar panel. They making the car so efficient that it is no practical anymore and ugly !!!.
Solar cars are ideal for Australia. Too bad the government wants to tax electric cars.
I'm going to have to argue with my family, but if the aptera makes production, I am definitely getting one when my Honda CR-Z dies.
Enjoy these videos, but noticed an error repeated in this and other CNET videos EVs
“batteries in most EVs weigh 500 to 800 lbs or more”
I think the spec references is in kilograms, maybe have been misread
“500 to 800 kg or more, or 1100 to 1800 lbs or more” is probably what was meant to be said
Thanks!
It's not done yet. They have picked another bad time to start. Let's hope people don't jump ship in case we are hit by another recession.
On-board solar makes little sense. It adds some weight when EVs already weigh too much. If you park in a garage or even under a tree they won't work. Better to put extra solar panels on the roof of your house and battery storage in your garage.
I love efficiency, so I was glad to see the Aptera covered. When next year we'll have 9,000 pound Hummers with 3,000 pound batteries, the benefits of going electric will be completely negated. Since 57% of sales in the US are bloated trucks and SUVs, we need to start taxing vehicles based on weight, instead of a gas tax.
Great report on EVs! (though the guy with the miter saw at 4:45 has clearly never used one in his life)
I hope the Aptera and other solar vehicles sell like hotcakes! It's crazy that we're not making more use of the energy provided by the sun.
It’s also worth noting that if you don’t drive for a few days or much during those few days that the solar very well could fully power those rare longer distance drives you were talking about. Personally I work from home. If I drove to Disney this weekend after leaving the car in the sun over the week I’d be driving that 100 miles round trip completely with solar, and still have plenty left when I got back home which would most likely also get topped off in a day or two if I don’t drive 100 miles again
Oh man I want that last one.