An Company(ies) that Converts Classic Automobiles to Automobiles with Solar Panels Built into Their Skins?

Submitted ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨GreatWhite_Shark_EarthAndBeingsRightsPerson@piefed.social⁩ to ⁨energy@slrpnk.net⁩

https://aptera.us/,%20https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/16/converting-gas-powered-cars-to-evs-is-a-booming-business.html

Does Anyone Know of An Company(ies) that Converts Classic Automobiles to Automobiles with Solar Panels Built into Their Skins?

I am not talking about the new VEs with solar panels built into their skins. I am not talking about classic automobiles converted into VEs that plug into a separate setup of solar panels.

I love ‘65 Ford Mustang, EVs & solar power & really like everything Aptera offers, EXCEPT no ‘65 Ford Mustang body. Does not even have to be the same HEAVY materials that made-up The ‘65 Ford Mustang’s body, not necessary to maintain the safety of the car.

I been looking, but I cannot find any Company(ies) that Converts Classic (‘65 Ford Mustang) Automobiles to Automobiles with Solar Panels Built into Their Skins.

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GreatWhite_Shark_EarthAndBeingsRightsPerson@piefed.social ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
By the way, those readers & repliers that think automobiles’ bodies have not really gotten lightier, since 1965-

Current Trends in Metallic Materials for Body Panels and Structural Members Used in the Automotive Industry

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j4k3@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
The amount of power from built in panels is negligible relative to the battery. Solar panels are not vinyl film. They are actual semiconductors. They can be thin but are fragile. One can design a panel into some form of shape, but that is not a small task and is only possible with economy of scale for the tooling. Ultra thin solar panels have no real durability.

I am a pro automotive painter and have owned my own shop twice. I would not want this. Just reproduction body work is expensive. The custom stuff is even more. To make it into frivolous tech, that would cost orders of magnitude more, and the market to make it is so insignificant it would be a massive vanity project and loss. Then it is a nightmare when cars start burning from a few chips to the hood or roof on the highway because someone did not account for the short circuit potential in software and management circuitry. The total power of an optimal solar panel of equivalent size is irrelevant to the scale of an EV battery. Dave on the EEVBlog YT channel has covered this in years past with cars. Use the EEVBlog forum to search and learn more. That is the goto place for EEs.

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- GreatWhite_Shark_EarthAndBeingsRightsPerson@piefed.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  But Aptera, Lightyear & Etc. companies already built solar panels into automobiles’ skins.
  
  I am trusting you are who you say you are. So one just buys a ‘65 mustang frame then & does what those companies have done with their solar panels, wiring & Etc.. It seems pretty soon this will be what EVs will be, near future.
  
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  - j4k3@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    I think we may have a language barrier here. Solar panels on a car are a gimmick. They do not do not make significant energy to power the vehicle or change the batteries. The panels made are a sales gimmick to influence people that do not understand the technology and scales of the system. This is like putting the solar cell for a calculator onto an electric bicycle as an equivalent ratio of size and scope. The calculator runs on 3 milliwatts and the bike needs 300 watts.
    
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  - GreatWhite_Shark_EarthAndBeingsRightsPerson@piefed.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    “Dave on the EEVBlog YT channel has covered this in years past with cars. Use the EEVBlog forum to search and learn more. That is the goto place for EEs.”
    
    First. What does EEV & EEs stand for? & Lastly, Thank you, for the referral!
    
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hanrahan@slrpnk.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
Solar panels on cars are a needless gimmick. Better mounting a lot of them on the roof of your home and charge off that (and feed into the grid etc)

Whike converting and old ice car to electirc is possible it’s going to be a shitty idea, theres a reason ecars use a skateboard design and no axels etc

Better to ride a bicycke, much better.

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French75@slrpnk.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

he same HEAVY materials that made-up The ‘65 Ford Mustang’s body

The 65 Mustang was not made of heavy materials. It was (at the time) modern unibody construction made of thin guage sheetmetal. I’ve owned a few. The 65 200ci mustang I had in my teens was one of the lighter cars I’ve every owned; 2400lb / 1100kg or something like that. It was very easy to push, which you occasionally needed to do because Mustangs were godawful piece of shit cars. I did for a while own a early production 65 289 K-code 4 speed. It was one of the rarer early Mustangs, but still a total piece of shit. The body panels were flimsy and dented easily, the bumpers would bend if you stared at them too hard.

I recall cars of the 40s and early 50s all seemed to use a heavier guage sheetmetal, and body on frame construction. I’m not sure that’s a good thing, but they were heavier and sturdier.

Also, if you look at solar panel production and EV energy consumption, I’m not sure that powering an old, unaerodynamic design is realistic with body mounted panels. It’s something like 3 miles per KWh to push a tesla model 3 down the road, and the big house panels are 400w panels. You can kinda do the math from there.

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- GreatWhite_Shark_EarthAndBeingsRightsPerson@piefed.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  “ It’s something like 3 miles per KWh to push a tesla model 3 down the road, and the big house panels are 400w panels. You can kinda do the math from there.”
  
  That is obviously wrong statement, when old Mustang conversion happen a lot, I was even watch a TV show about a company that did them & they did worst aerodynamic automobiles, with good enough performances.
  
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  - French75@slrpnk.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    The numbers aren’t wrong. You can verify them yourself instead of spouting nonsense.
    
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- GreatWhite_Shark_EarthAndBeingsRightsPerson@piefed.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  I have to own some, late ‘60s,
  
  Compare to ‘90s-now materials, was my point. When I posed this question on BLANKING popular social media outlet (THE BLANK will remain nameless, not helping it) the repliers kept not answering the question & stating the body’s made of too heavy materials to do it.
  
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  - French75@slrpnk.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    
    Compare to ‘90s-now materials
    
    Car bodies today are still made out of sheet metal and plastic. Sheet metal is the same today as it was in the 60s, and while the plastic is better, it isn’t lighter. Moreover, cars are bigger and heavier for crash protection. If you’re talking about composites like carbon fiber, well… we’re not making car bodies out of carbon fiber.
    
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blarghly@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
If you want an electric Mustang, just convert it to a plug in. You won’t be able to charge it in any practical amount of time relying on body mounted solar, literally no matter what, because the car has a certain mass, and the sun outputs a certain amount of energy per square meter on the surface of the earth, and that amount of sun has a hard time moving that much mass.

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- GreatWhite_Shark_EarthAndBeingsRightsPerson@piefed.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  There is another huge benefit, with countries not taking serious powering stations using solar panels, one is forced to PRETEND green energy, like Nuclear.
  
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- GreatWhite_Shark_EarthAndBeingsRightsPerson@piefed.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  It works for those mentioned brands, Plus if you are charging, while using & parked, you have to spend much time charging, to full.
  
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