Rivan truck tow vehicle

BCSnob wrote:
provide a link to the research you’re describing

Don't make others do the work for you. Google is your friend. I bet with the right key word, "research on improving efficiency of solar energy" will return no less than 1 million topics on the subject.

And good luck on your reading.

@propchef provided two links specific to concept cars. So you may thank him.

North America gets on average 4-5kWh/m2/day, it’ll take a long time or large area to recharge a EV battery.
NREL

Provide a link to the research

Yosemite Sam1 wrote:
Ain't you glad JFK did not get these people in his moon shot project?

But Mr President, math is hard and you want us to do rocket science.

I remember that skeptics and the naysayers about the mobile phone, mini computers, battery powered cars and solar homes.

Ok, they are still around shooting down every high tech concepts out there riding into the sunset in their horse drawn wagons.:o

Nope, sorry...try again. Just a realist, not really a left coast dreamer...
If you recall, the question was pretty pointed. Something to the effect of "could a solar setup on my camper fully charge my EV tow rig on a camping trip?"
Simple, albeit uninformed question, but the answer was and is a succinct "no."
Could the answer change to "yes"? Someday? Yeah, not only possible but maybe even likely.
But the question wasn't "will I be able to charge my EV full from solar while camping 5 or 10 or 50 years from now?"
You either have a reading comprehension issue, or a lack of being in touch with reality. Maybe a touch of both?

Ain't you glad JFK did not get these people in his moon shot project?

But Mr President, math is hard and you want us to do rocket science.

I remember that skeptics and the naysayers about the mobile phone, mini computers, battery powered cars and solar homes.

Ok, they are still around shooting down every high tech concepts out there riding into the sunset in their horse drawn wagons.:o

Yosemite Sam1 wrote:
Not an expert here by any stretch of imagination, but just read somewhere that there is a current development in making solar panels terraced like that of the CD to pack and technically expand the surface absorbing the sun's race. And then the foldable solar panels with higher energy density.

But what I'm sure of, money and resources are pouring on research and development in solar energy and battery technology.

Lots of vaporware...but show me one in production with pricing.

JRscooby wrote:

A theory that has crossed my mind; Say you are dark camping with a solar/battery system that meets your demand most times, but you get a few days of cloud/rain and run short of power. Could the E-TV be set up to charge the camper, then go to town for recharge? I could see this working even better if the rig was MH/E-toad.

This is the one area where an EV can be advantageous. As mentioned the new F150 EV does include built in outlets for this exact purpose.

propchef wrote:
I'll just leave this here. It weighs more than a bicycle.

Yes, those solar cars are heavier than bicycles, and they also have more than 1 square meter of solar panels. And none of them have any real practicality.

rjstractor wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:
What leaps and bounds are you speaking of?

The price of solar panels has come down with economy of scale and china dumping (it seems to have leveled out though) but I haven't seen any substantial improvements in years.

Problem with solar is a massive 3kw solar array (covering every square inch of a larger RV and costing may thousands) will generate around 10-12kwh per day if you aren't in shade (in shade and it will produce next to nothing). A vehicle even remotely capable of towing more than a tear drop is going to have a 125-150kwh battery bank, so you are talking many days to refill off solar.

Propulsion, just isn't there.

Nailed it. Many people, especially the "techy" type, reason that since data processing technology progresses exponentially, with my Apple Watch probably having more computing power than a mainframe did 30 years ago, that same exponential progression applies to everything. Smart people they may be, they seem to forget the limitations of things in the real world- like that the sun only provides 'x' watts per square meter. That's a constant regardless of solar panel technology. A 1 meter square panel will never come close to propelling anything heavier than a bicycle- the sun just doesn't provide enough juice.

I'll just leave this here. It weighs more than a bicycle.

https://worldsolarchallenge.org/about

https://www.bridgestone.com/bwsc/stories/article/2019/06/17-3.html#:~:text=Despite%20being%20big%2C%20solar%20cars,cars%20that%20weigh%20850%20kg.

valhalla360 wrote:
What leaps and bounds are you speaking of?

The price of solar panels has come down with economy of scale and china dumping (it seems to have leveled out though) but I haven't seen any substantial improvements in years.

Problem with solar is a massive 3kw solar array (covering every square inch of a larger RV and costing may thousands) will generate around 10-12kwh per day if you aren't in shade (in shade and it will produce next to nothing). A vehicle even remotely capable of towing more than a tear drop is going to have a 125-150kwh battery bank, so you are talking many days to refill off solar.

Propulsion, just isn't there.

Nailed it. Many people, especially the "techy" type, reason that since data processing technology progresses exponentially, with my Apple Watch probably having more computing power than a mainframe did 30 years ago, that same exponential progression applies to everything. Smart people they may be, they seem to forget the limitations of things in the real world- like that the sun only provides 'x' watts per square meter. That's a constant regardless of solar panel technology. A 1 meter square panel will never come close to propelling anything heavier than a bicycle- the sun just doesn't provide enough juice.

time2roll wrote:

Yosemite Sam1 wrote:
F150 Lightning is bandied to be able to power the house for 2 to 3 days.

I am curious if the F150 is programmable to stop at a user set charge level rather than fully depleting the battery.

Don’t know. But the Tesla disables a lot of things when you hit 20 percent. Sentry mode. Dog mode. Aux ports etc