Tesla announces plans for solar powered cars

[LadyStanley]

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2016/07/20/tesla-unveils-plan-for-solar-powered-cars/

Musk writes, “The point of all this was, and remains, accelerating the advent of sustainable energy, so that we can imagine far into the future and life is still good. ...

OK. So, car ports should have sun roofs then? Or will the car automatically keep the interior cool?

Click to read more...

 

[hatterson]

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2016/07/20/tesla-unveils-plan-for-solar-powered-cars/
OK. So, car ports should have sun roofs then? Or will the car automatically keep the interior cool?

Unless I misread Musk's statement, they're not planing solar cars. They're planning on electric vehicles that meet all segments of the transport market (lower cost cars, large trucks for goods transport, and buses for mass people transit). They're also planning on leveraging SolarCity's solar technology, in combination with Tesla's home battery stuff, to make installing solar a realistic option in many more home and allowing people to generate their own electricity in a sustainable way.

So yes, cars would be powered with solar in the sense that you'd have a solar panel on your roof to generate electricity for your house and use that to power your car, but it would not be a solar powered car in the sense of having solar panels on the car itself.

 

[LT]

Unless I misread Musk's statement, they're not planing solar cars. They're planning on electric vehicles that meet all segments of the transport market (lower cost cars, large trucks for goods transport, and buses for mass people transit). They're also planning on leveraging SolarCity's solar technology, in combination with Tesla's home battery stuff, to make installing solar a realistic option in many more home and allowing people to generate their own electricity in a sustainable way.

So yes, cars would be powered with solar in the sense that you'd have a solar panel on your roof to generate electricity for your house and use that to power your car, but it would not be a solar powered car in the sense of having solar panels on the car itself.

Which honestly makes much more sense. Most cars aren't out in the sun for more than a few hours a day. You'd have to leave them out, which with a car like that, is not something most consumers will want to do.

And that's not even considering solar panel orientation, which would be nearly impossible to do on cars themselves.

 

[LadyStanley]

Oh, I don't know about orientation.

Saw an Airstream trailer (those iconic silver ones) retrofitted with four solar panels -- two on each side -- as I was driving yesterday.

 

[Kurtz]

To me, the most interesting point was around cars being auto-pilot, and the notion of having your car become an auto-pilot uber when you're not using it. Very plausible scenario within the next 10 years.