Why don't electric car manufacurers put solar panels on the car roofs?

Blubber28@lemmy.world to No Stupid Questions@lemmy.world – 198 points –

Honestly it seems like a no-brainer to me to put a solar panel on the roof of electric cars to increase their action radius, so I figured there's probably one or more good reasons why they don't.

Also, I acknowledge that a quick google could answer the question, but with the current state of google I don't want to read AI bullshit. I want an actual answer, and I bet there will be some engineers eager to explain the issues.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sono_Motors_Sion

So, this concept is too expensive :

(...) In February 2023, the company announced it would cease developing the vehicle, citing a failure to crowdsource sufficient funds.

Solar panels on the roof and hood of a car are dubiously useful. This car has panels on the sides of the doors? Those are going to get but a fraction of the light the roof ones will. This just looks like someone tried to shove as many on as possible with zero thought into the efficacy of the idea.