Would you buy a solar powered car? If not, how come?

Question

Would you buy a solar powered car? If not, how come?

Answer 1

No, because I like to drive at night.

Answer 2

No.  My guess is the car is not going to be visually appealing to me...sad but true...I won't buy a vehicle unless it is visually appealing to me.

Answer 3

No.  Because I might want to drive at night.. or when it's cloudy.

Answer 4

only if it came with baby seal skin hub caps

Answer 5

no, to expensive

Answer 6

I am afraid it would be just like my satelite television service.  When it is very cloudy and rainy it will not work.

Answer 7

No.

Doing the math you would find that the amount of energy the car could absorb vs the amount of time or distance you could drive would mean you would have terrible range.

A car with 6 sq m of surface are would get a max of about 120watts of power per hour.  That is less than what the average computer uses and about the same as two lightbulbs.  Which is not nearly enough to power a vehicle.

I would happily drive an electric car which has solar panels as long as I could charge it up at a conventional outlet.

My #1 preference would be :

A hybrid vehicle (like Prius) where I had the option to drive it as full electric if it was just a short trip.

AND had the option to plus it in so I could charge it without using fuel

AND had solar panels to add some extra juice

Answer 8

I definitely would like to get a solar powered car.  But it would have to be big enough for my family (can sit at least 4 people).  It would have to be really efficient to store the power into to get where you need to go.  But I think a car like this would be better in the sunnier climates.

Answer 9

No, I would not, because it's too impractical.  You're likely to get stranded on a cloudy or rainy day!

Answer 10

Yes

But I would prefer to leave the solar panels at home and drive an electric vehicle with a grid pick up. Carrying the extra weight is wastefull. Some thing like this would be my choice it gives you the choice to pedal also.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recumbent_b...

Adding a battery would be ok but not my preference.

This sort of vehicle has recorded speeds up to 81 mph (130kmh) with out electrical assistance. see link

P.s. pv cells can produce more than 320 watt/sqr metre if anybody is interested. The more common silicon type is upto 160 watt/sqr metre.

If your interested

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_solar...

Answer 11

yes i would and u now why because u dont have to use fuel!!!!!!

Answer 12

Yes I would

Answer 13

I would love to have a solar powered car but I fear it would be impractical at present (too expensive, too limited).  Apparently, most of the people who buy 'alternative fuel' vehicles are people who can afford to own and drive gas guzzlers as well.

Answer 14

No - too expensive. But I do think electric cars are the way to go. You can then use solar panels on your house roof to charge up before you drive.

Main problem = cost of battery, however these are getting affordable very quickly. So yes - I dare say in about 5 years I will hope to be driving a mostly solar powered car.

Answer 15

No.

There will never be a purely solar powered car offered for sale.  A solar panel small enough to fit on a current car would not provide enough power to move it very far or very fast.

Though I see no reason why solar panels could not be used right now to power AC units in cars in sunny areas, it would be expensive but would make luxury car owners feel "greener".

Answer 16

In UK we would need some sun first lol

Answer 17

Most definitely! If they didn't cost 80,000 dollars.

.