Hi, while looking for a good ev for my family, i came across this new KIA van. Its kinda like the VW ID buzz but seems to have more space. When I saw the wide roof I thought, why not but some solar on top? And with some rough calculation I came up with the following. 3 600w/800w panels which generate roughly 15km of range on an average eu day, would fit on top. This would be perfect for my regular driving needs. Has anyone ever tried to add solar to an ev and has anyone experience with this car?
Just looking for general advice on feasibility of solar mods and the car itself.
There are some portable solar panels, even ones specifically designed around EVs. But like other folks have said, it is cumbersome. They charge their own battery and then you dump that into your EV while parked. But the energy generated Is pretty minimal.
E.g: https://gosun.co/pages/ev-solar-charger
Also if you end up tacking it on top you might end up losing whatever efficiency gained from the panels to mileage sacrificed by aero loss
Unlike gas, which involves destroying your fuel source (investment).
A solar roof on a car is an investment that constantly provides consistent albeit fluctuating dividends.
Every cent counts when spanned over years. Especially when its portable.