this post was submitted on 21 Oct 2025
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Electric Vehicles
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So using their numbers of 11 square meters at 1000w/sqm, and 18.2% efficiency would mean 2002w nominal assuming the entire car is illuminated. Multiply that by 4*365 to get the average annual production (2922kwh). Then multiply by 6km/kwh for the distance you could drive (17538km).
Article says 17000km/yr
So I think they're overestimating by at least 40% since the whole car will never be completely in the sun.
2kW is a LOT of production. That'd be enough to run most homes. If it's able to produce that for five hours a day they'd hit that 17000km figure no problem.
2kW × 5h = 10kWh 6km/kWh × 10kWh = 60km 60km/day × 365days = 21900km
I went with 4kwh/kwp instead of the 5 hours you suggest since that's more common around the world. Assuming you're actually in the UK, I'd bet you're more likely to see 3-3.5 in a country so famous for soggy weather.
Also, the more relevant point would be that the whole car can't be in the sunlight all day, unless you park next to a giant mirror.