Solar charging a plugin hybrid car

time2roll wrote:

Gjac wrote:
I have read most of the solar and li battery threads but have never seen how they would ever be cost effective in the way I camp. Having said that I was wondering if solar panels on top of a MH be effective at charging a plugin hybrid or electric car while towing? For example would 4 hrs of travel in sunlight be enough to put 50 miles back into the car's battery? How much solar would be required to do this? Or is this jut not practical?

Is there a reason you cannot charge before you leave and after you arrive in addition to the 4 hour drive? Solar panels work all day.

Otherwise yes you are looking at close to 2000+ watts of solar on the MH. You would not be the first.

I would expect you would be topping up the toad every day as power is available. Probably also expand the MH house battery to save up the solar power for charging the toad faster when needed.

I don't go to FHU CG's so no way to plug in. I am just trying to think ahead, I know it is just a matter of time until gas is over $4.00/gal. I have a hybrid car now that gets over 40 mpg's I was thinking about a plugin hybrid that can be towed flat. Where I live electric costs are very high 23 cents/KW so when gas was $2.00/gal it was much cheaper to stay with my current car. At $3.40/gal is the break even point. I am told electric costs when traveling are between 22-45 cents per KW which is more costly than home charging. Like I said in my OP I have no need for solar on my MH because I always run out of water before battery power. But with the costs of solar coming down I was thinking solar might make sense for a plugin hybrid even at home when not camping.