[Isaac Zachary]

Agreed that if sold without solar panels the Aptera would be a good car (as long as everything else works as intended, obviously). But if you're going to put solar panels on a consumers' vehicle, this is the one to do it and I don't see it at all as being the begining of the apocolypse just because a car manufacturer put a solar panel on a car.

The use case scenario is what I'm paying attention to. I see this car as being for mainly two different kinds of people.

1. You have those that want a toy. This could compete with the Mazda Miata. It has two seats and zips around. People in this segment may want the solar and camping kind of stuff because that may be on their lists of things to do with the car, even if not at all practical.
2. Then you have those who want a commuter. You may get some who have enough money for several cars in the family and want something just to go to work in. But I see this as the type of car university students will want. These are the kinds of people who don't need more than a seat or two, end up parking out in the middle of a parking lot with no shade anyway, whether that's at their dorm or on campus, may not have or allways have a chance to park at an EVSE, and they have parents that buy them brand new cars. (I feel like bringing up again that college kid that said he could stuff a piano in his brand new RAV4.)

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

1, yes, so you agree why low voltage solar panels are a bad match for high voltage battery bank?
When looking at high efficiency battery chargers they typically use input voltage of around 70% to 200% of normal pack voltage.
2 yes you agree that there is a practice size limit to cells. I figured that's why the industry standardized on cell sizes at least 25 years sgo.
3 I will further explain. As a normal solar panel gets bigger it's not a problem until it gets so big installers have trouble handing them or shippers can't move them. As you make a panel bigger on a car the panel will start to conform and go around vehicle body curves, not good for a panel.
4 The only place I have been to that's sunny and cold is here, in new Mexico. Sunny and cold appears to be the exception, not the rule. Me personally I park my car so the sun comes in at that low winter angle through the windscreen to melt ice and warm the car some. My roof top solar is almost useless in the winter, making about 1/4 the power of summer, I doubt laid nearly flat solar panels on a car a car would do any better. Also I use more power in the winter, about 25% more power and I get my heat from diesel fuel. In a cool climate your EV power consumption my double due to running the heater. Owners will have to plug in in the winter if they drive the car. That's all there is to it.
5 I tried making a diy panel a long time ago that was serviceable, it worked alright but was not all weather, not practical at all.
6, I have never bought a vehicle that took more than 1 payment to own.
8, I haven't seen anyone from a high sun place shilling for the apthera, to just leave it in the sun and charge.

1. Greater voltage differences do lower the efficiency, but it wouldn't kill the idea. From what Aptera has said, it seems their PV to battery efficiency is around 85%.
2. There are plenty of panels with smaller cells on them to increase the voltage. You can even buy smaller PV cells for DIY. I've never heard of one of these small cell, multi-connection panels dying from having bad connections. Lots of things have lots of connections, EV batteries for an example. Whether the connections fail or not depends more on the quality of the connections than the number of them.
3. Just look at a picture of where the PV cells are on an Aptera. They're on top, not the sides, not the bottom.
4. So you're saying everywhere you go there's a shaded parking space just for you and that's the same with everyone else you know? Everyone I know must be an exception, because when we go to school, work, or Wal-Mart, or even our own driveways, there is no shade. Hot, cold, it doesn't matter, no one in town has a choice, they have to park in the sun except those who have a tree near their driveway or own a garage or are one of the three cars that happened to make it under the shade of those couple of trees at Wal-Mart before everyone else got to the store.
   
   In the winter, yes, plugging in will possibly become more necessary depending on how much the person drives and where he or she lives. But then again, looking at yearly costs, even if you have to stop more at public charging stations or use your personal EVSE more in the winter it still may be worth it to some people. And the 40 miles per day is an average per year, An Aptera owner may get 20 per day in the winter and 60 per day in the summer, for an example.
5. And your point is?
6. And your point is?
7. ?
8. Are you working for a polling company?