Thursday, August 15th, 2019
Stephan: A few weeks ago I ran a story about a new Prius car with solar panels as part of its roof. A significant percentage of the power to run the car would come from those panels, which would have an enormous effect on the battery issue, and rapidly speed up the conversion out of the carbon era. Now Hyundai announces their solar car.
Hyundai following Prius is offering a solar powered car.
Solar panels can power your house, but what about your car? Hyundai is the latest automaker to experiment with solar charging systems for cars, unveiling a solar roof that helps recharge the Sonata Hybrid sedan’s battery pack. While the latest versionof the Sonata Hybrid will likely launch in the United States soon, Hyundai did not say whether the solar roof would be included.
Hyundai claims the solar roof can charge a car’s battery pack to 30-60% capacity, given six hours of charging per day. Hybrids like the Sonata have smaller battery packs than all-electric cars, so a solar roof can make a bigger difference in charging. The solar roof can charge both while the car is stationary and while driving, according to Hyundai.
Adding solar cells to a car is not a new idea. The Karma Revero luxury plug-in hybrid is available with a solar roof, and Toyota even covered the hood of a car with solar cells to make maximum use of the sun’s energy. The
These solar ideas accompanied by wheel driven magnetic generators should propel the industry into a great new direction toward “no-fuel-necessary” types of vehicles, and a good direction to go forward into the 21st century.