Charging an electric vehicle (EV) is, we know, frustrating. Every few hours, you have to stop, charge your vehicle, and get back on the road until after a few hours, when the whole movie starts again. For many, this is not a problem, especially if they use the car for short trips, but those who make long trips with their vehicles… are forced to use ingenuity and boldness to make them charge faster. That is what happened with a man and its Tesla in the U.S., who found a homemade and revolutionary solution to put an end to the hassle of having to charge the vehicle every so often.
This fact (which you can see by clicking on this link) quickly went viral, but why? Well, because tired of depending on charging stations, a man decided to charge his car using foldable solar panels, without needing a single plug!
Of course, it is not a perfect invention, but it is useful, so maybe he did not care much that it was not perfect. What it has opened is a question: will future vehicles be able to rely on solar energy?
How does this system work?
Two solar panels of 500 watts each (or at least that is what is seen in his video) placed on the roof of the vehicle, the panels, of course, are foldable and cover both the front and the back of his Tesla, reaching approximately 1,000 watts (in human terms, that is 30 miles after 8 hours in the sun). Obviously, it does not stand up to Tesla’s Supercharger, but we are talking about a slow charge that can get you out of some trouble.
That said, this system cannot be used while driving, mainly because it blocks the entire windshield and rear window system, so you would have to park to deploy it and be able to charge your vehicle.
Why did he create this system?
Mainly because this driver wanted to have an emergency charger that was independent of the power grid, so he could charge his vehicle anywhere, more or less like carrying a giant power bank for the car.
Also, as long as there is sunlight, there is no need to pay to have your car charging, I do not know about you, but around here we see it all as advantages!
And the limitations?
Well, of course it has limitations, but are we going to get picky with a man who discovered that we can charge our Tesla with a solar charger?
Even so, we are going to tell you what the main flaws we see in this invention are, and that is that it is not designed to replace traditional charging, but for an emergency situation (or for those who like to travel to remote places). But, when it comes down to it, it is not practical because it eliminates visibility (besides adding weight to the vehicle), that is why we tell you that you cannot use it while driving, because you would not see anything!
Does it open a path for Tesla?
Even if it is a bit of a rudimentary invention, the answer is yes. Or at least, it opens a question about the future of our vehicles: could they integrate emergency solar solutions into electric vehicles? Who knows, but the rumours say that there are already companies working to add integrated solar chargers into the vehicle’s bodywork.
What is clear is that creativity has no limits, and even if it is not a perfect system (and neither is it fast), it opens a door to the future, and it is that, who has not ever dreamed of a vehicle that works with solar charging? The future (and the energy revolution) is knocking at our doors!