It seems like just yesterday that Toyota pulled its old “self-charging hybrid” scam. As anyone who finished high school and paid attention knows, there are laws of physics. Human laws can be broken and if the authorities don’t notice, you can probably get away with it . But, nature is a little more hard-nosed. Things like conservation of energy are not only strict, but self-enforcing.
But, what if there was a way to charge a vehicle without having to plug it into the grid or having to feed it expensive and environmentally-damaging fossil fuels? One YouTuber figured out a way to get it done without breaking the laws of physics, but it’s probably not an idea that’s going to be popular with Americans.YouTube channel, Drew takes a very different approach to cars than the average American. In short, he started with some metal, some e-bike parts, and some solar panels.
One key fact: the frame weighs just over 100 pounds, which is pretty damned light by automotive standards. Adding on wooden and fiberglass body panels and creature comforts led to a lot more weight, but still far, far less than even the smallest traditional cars. Overall weight was about 320 pounds, enabling the two e-bike motors to push the solar-powered car around a lot faster than a single e-bike or a comparably-sized golf cart. The overall range with no solar charging is about 60 miles, but even on a short ride, the solar panels ended up adding over a dozen additional miles . So, charging it isn’t really a problem, even with so few solar panels .
But, let’s keep in mind that this was a one-off garage project. If one were to contact e-bike manufacturers in China, it should be pretty easy to get custom parts for cheaper that take a lot less work. The result would be pretty close to the mini-EVs that are popular there to begin with, and those could be a good comparable option if you were to add some solar charging to it.