Honestly it seems like a no-brainer to me to put a solar panel on the roof of electric cars to increase their action radius, so I figured there’s probably one or more good reasons why they don’t.
Also, I acknowledge that a quick google could answer the question, but with the current state of google I don’t want to read AI bullshit. I want an actual answer, and I bet there will be some engineers eager to explain the issues.
While that might not be economically feasible, I’ve always wondered why plug-in electrics couldn’t send power back into the grid. No solar? Send energy onto the grid during the day from the car and recharge during the off-hours at night. Solar? Recharge during the day and send energy onto the grid at night. Just make sure to set a minimum charge that will get you to a charging station.
Some do, but to do this, the point of entry to the grid needs to be set up in such a way as to support this, with an automatic transfer switch for when the grid disconnects, and a meter that reads energy use as both incoming and outgoing, rather than the default of all incoming.
Source: am electrician who has installed batteries on peoples houses
IIRC some car batteries can be used that way, but it wears out the battery.
For LFP batteries it’s irrelevant. They have a 3000 cycles to 80% cap, some of the new ones have 6000. That’s 10 or 20 years assuming full discharges an recharges everyday.
Or in terms of lifespan, assuming a realistic 400km range (250 miles), it’s between 1.2M and 2.4M km before the range reduces to 80% (750k and 1.5M miles). The car will be completely Theseus-ed at the point.