Quote:
Originally Posted by JSH
Adding solar can work - the Hyundai we talked about earlier is a perfect example of the use case. Running the numbers:
50 mpg @ $3.00 per gallon = $0.06 per mile
Hyundai says in perfect conditions you will get 808 miles of solar driving per year saving $48.48.
I would much rather have a solar roof than a useless moonroof which saves me zero dollars a day and will leak given time. It is conceivable that a solar roof could pay for itself in maybe 10 years in perfect conditions but more realistically 15 - 20 in typical conditions.
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I never said solar couldn't work, I said it wasn't worth considering.
To maximize the ROI, one would need to drive the whole range added by solar the preceding day and no more, and then park ideally situated to gain sunlight, every single day, in Death Valley or similarly cloudless region.
The actual payback is infinity, because that investment could be better used on other things... which leads us back to the fact that nobody is doing it because it's a terrible idea. Real consumers would rather have a nicer interior or something rather than 3 miles of "free" daily range.