Ford, SunPower want you to charge that electric vehicle with

[rfruth]

Ford, SunPower want you to charge that electric vehicle with solar

http://www.myfocuselectric.com/ford-focus-electric-home-solar-charging-option/#more-68

 

[evluv]

Did anybody else think this meant that the Ford Focus Electric would have solar panels on it's roof that would recharge itself?

I even read an article on another site about the same info and it seriously made me think the solar panels were mounted on the roof of the Ford Focus Electric...

 

[happy12]

oh.it is very good.perhaps it can help me in the future.thank you very much.

 

[toffty]

Did anybody else think this meant that the Ford Focus Electric would have solar panels on it's roof that would recharge itself?

Solar panels on a car will not be able to charge the main driving battery. Assuming 3.5 miles / kwh (high estimate), a car with the hood and top covered in solar cells, and a car of the size, shape, weights of the FFE, it would take over 6 hours to charge the main driving battery enough to go 1 mile.

Solar is just not that efficient. It would be a waste of rare-earth-metals to do this since most of the time the car won't be in full sun. It's a much better idea to put those rare-earth-metals to use in solar arrays on your roof.