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Aptera's First Solar Road Trip. 300 Miles, One Charge

(aptera.us)
49 points geox | 1 comments | 31 Mar 25 11:05 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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pinkmuffinere ◴[03 Apr 25 05:02 UTC] No.43564937[source]▶
> Even on an overcast day, the team saw over 545 watts of solar input

Let’s (generously) assume that was the minimum they saw, and let’s (generously) say they charged for 14 hours. That’s 7.63 kWh gained over the day, in almost ideal conditions. Flagstaff’s high altitude means stronger sunlight, and they can do regenerative braking as they come down the mountain. In my Nissan leaf, 6 kWh would get me about 20 miles. If they are much more efficient, they maybe got 50 miles from the charging on that day, and the other 250 from the charge they started with.

I’d love to be wrong about any of the above! Solar panels on cars would be so cool! It just doesn’t seem useful. Please correct me if I’m mistaken.

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1. jillesvangurp ◴[03 Apr 25 07:08 UTC] No.43565902[source]▶
You are not wrong, you are just missing the point. This is the ultimate commuter vehicle. Most commutes fall in the 10-30 miles range. On an average day, you might drive 30-40 miles. If so, you basically are powered by the sun on most days.

> they maybe got 50 miles from the charging on that day

They claim it's up to 40.

Best case you charge more than you drive; so your car has a enough in the battery every morning to make it back home after work. Worst case, you delay the moment when you have to charge by plugging in by some large percentage. The difference between charging your car once or twice per week and once or twice every few months top top it up. Perfect if you don't have a charger at home. Removes a lot of the hassle and cost related to charging.

Road trips are not something people do on a daily basis. Especially not in light/small vehicles. But when you do, a light vehicle with a longish range is a nice thing to have. And this thing is very efficient by design (light, teardrop shaped) and the relatively small battery probably charges pretty quickly. And you get a few tens of miles extra because of the solar. So it can do a 300 mile journey despite having a smallish battery. Which is what they just demonstrated. 300 miles is pretty good. Most EVs don't do any better than that.