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points by petcat 1 day ago | 0 comments

Charging an EV from regular household solar panels would take days....

And that's assuming they are sunny days.

I think your math is off some how. I have a Model 3 and two Leafs and we charge them from our 39 400 Watt panels without trouble. They are always ready to go fully charged unless one of the boys has been doing more than normal of driving to the beach with a girlfriend and then borrowing the Model 3 for a concert, or whatever fun involves using all the stored energy at the same time (e.g. not commutes to school or work).

[–] xedrac 18 hours ago

My 12 kw solar system charges my 32kwh battery in a few hours on sunny days. But to be fair, your system is even larger, and both of our solar systems are larger than average for home solar. A 5 kw system would indeed take days to charge a typical ev battery from zero to full.

[–] lostlogin 1 day ago

It takes about a 6-8 hours to charge my Leaf on a small solar install.

But yes, it needs to be sunny if that’s going to be pure solar.

[–] ryanbrunner 1 day ago

I realize the person you're replying to wasn't specific and said just "EV" but a leaf and a cybertruck are pretty much the polar ends of a spectrum.

[–] imtringued 22 hours ago

Ok but the problem with this argument is that you could come up with a hypothetical EV that can store enough energy to last a year and then take a year to charge.

And yet nothing prevents you from driving daily.

What matters is how much range you drive and recharge, not how big your battery is.

[–] imtringued 22 hours ago

There are many hours in a day and EVs are pretty efficient. You might struggle if your goal is to drive 200km per day but if all you want is to drive to work or go shopping, you'll be fine.

[–] sveme 1 day ago

What? My BIL’s installation is small, roughly 8kWp, on sunny days he easily gets 40-50kWh, if not more.

[–] rightnutwingjob 1 day ago

The Cybertruck has a 123kW battery, so charging it would take days, assuming they are sunny days.

[–] its_ethan 1 day ago

because solar panels only exist on houses?

[–] rightnutwingjob 1 day ago

Because EVs are only powered by solar?

[–] its_ethan 1 day ago

Who said they were?