If I neglect to pay the subscription, does it start draining power instead?
this post was submitted on 21 Oct 2025
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So the car itself might not be really sustainable, but it leads money and attention to solarpower by making it sexy, and that alone is already a good thing.
So much negativity in this thread. It's a cool concept and a sexy car.
It was a lot sexier before they made the car subscription based
You realize this is a concept car, right? There's no price, let alone subscription. Nor does the article even mention them considering that idea.
And a bunch of concept cars never see production. Most don't. This will probably be forgotten in a month.
I'm a little thrown by "20% efficient" when paired with "allows 94% of solar energy to pass through." Are they saying it captures 20% of 6%, i.e., 1.2% of the incident solar energy? Or are they saying 20% is captured and 94% passes through for a total energy recovery of 114%? (This latter is not physically possible, but that doesn't mean it's not what they're saying.)
Basically I would rather they listed the power output of the solar system in Watts.
94% makes it to the solar capture, which is 20% efficient. So 20% of 94%. Bear in mind these are laboratory numbers, not real world. No one will ever get that in the real world.
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.
I'd rather have actually efficient solar panels at home to charge a regular EV with; this is some solar frickin roadways level impractical nonsense. What if the paint goes opaque after a few years? What abput scratches and dings?
Also can we make the wheels any bigger?
Opaque? That's a fire.
Scratch? That's a fire.
Ding? That's a fire.
And somehow it is still less likely to engulf in flames than a Cybertruck
it's a solar cell not a lion battery.
Yes but did you know that there's electricity flowing through a solar panel? If you damage or shade one cell, and the panel is under load, the full load has to pass thru the damaged cell. This can cause a fire. A lithium cell causes a fire when punctuated or damaged because you're basically bridging the terminals internally and most chemistries go into thermal runaway after a certain temperature has been reached.
Yes but did you know that there’s electricity flowing through a solar panel?
OMG REALLY? PHOTOVOLTAICS THAT CONVERT SUNLIGHT INTO POWER HAVE ELECTRICITY INVOLVED? NO SHIIIIIIIIT!??!
pfft
If you damage or shade one cell, and the panel is under load, the full load has to pass thru the damaged cell. This can cause a fire.
yes, something like .03% of solar installs will incur damage at some point over their installed life; if there's brush and easily ignited material around the dc drop there can be fire issues. Every single report I've seen on this calls the risk 'extremely low'.
now, do you think mercedes built a car that can catch fire every time the door's dinged at the supermarket?
Do you really think that?
REALLY?
Because if you think this is a standard rooftop panel and there aren't any considerations to being on an automobile I think you need to take some time and introspection.
a tiny bit of digging:
Here’s the reassuring part: solar panel fires are extremely rare.
In the UK, a study found only 80 solar-related fire incidents across 1 million installations (BRE National Solar Centre).
In Australia, regulators reported fewer than 1 fire per 10,000 systems annually, mostly caused by faulty DC isolators—not the panels.
When installed properly, solar systems are far less likely to start a fire than many everyday electrical devices.
so no, I don't classify this as the same thing as a battery, and if you had half a brain, you wouldn't either.
So it can power... what? The radio?
The headlights. So they can blind you with the ridiculously bright LEDs.
This paint is worth a lot. They should sell it. Apparently developed by them. Zero publications. How is it wired is the big question.
I'm curious to see how the material holds up
"The protective layer is described as a new nanoparticle-based paint that allows 94% of solar energy to pass through."
Imagine getting a large scratch on this car, it will probably cost the same as a second hand regular car to get it repainted.
Design inspired by the hit game "Cyberpunk 2077", I assume?
I thought it's the original batmobile from the 90s.
The original screen batmobile is from the 60s, and the comic version is from the early forties 🤓
The insurance payment would rocket to the sky
Good thing being rich is a prerequisite for owning that thing, because a mild fender bender's taking out the entire front end. Still, dead sexy.
Can't they make the hood any longer? I don't want to see any asphalt.
Long front ends need a comeback
bleh. no thanks. hate having to estimate where the hood ends on rentals etc.
That’s like a retro-futuristic classy 1930’s Batmobile…
I don’t hate it
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