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WHEN WRITING TO THE DOCTOR, PLEASE GIVE HIM AS MUCH INFORMATION AS POSSIBLE, INCLUDING MAKE, MODEL, ENGINE SIZE AND YEAR OF MANUFACTURER, IF APPLICABLE
THE DOC OR
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...with no patience
GOT A DIESEL DILEMMA? HAVE YOU HIT ON A HYBRID BRAIN TWISTER, OR ARE YOU HAVING AN ELECTRIC EPISODE, THEN GET IN TOUCH WITH THE DEAR OLD DOCTOR. ALL OF YOUR TECHNICAL QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS ARE ANSWERED BY OUR RESIDENT SHARP-TONGUED EXPERT
ARE SOLAR PANELS SUCH A BRIGHT IDEA? Hi Doc, As someone who has minimal knowledge of electricity other than changing the odd busted fuse, please forgive me if my subsequent jottings appear to be coming out of my tailpipe. Is it possible to have part, or all, of the roof or bonnet of an electric vehicle constructed as a solar panel? Would it also be possible to construct wheel hubs as mini generators? Surely any possibilities such as these would help to reduce running costs in the future when Her Majesty’s government starts pricing electricity for EVs in line with petrol and diesel, and equally take away the burden of full
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national grid supply to EVs. Hoping all at Diesel Car magazine are keeping well; I’m looking forward to a safe and happy Christmas and, please god, a Covid-free 2022. Kind regards, Eddie Minford Hello Eddie, Good to hear from you. Your knowledge of electricity is greater than you think, because the new Hyundai Ioniq 5 is available in some markets with an optional solar panel roof. According to Hyundai, the panels can add up to 2,000kms (1,250 miles) of driving range per year, which sounds quite promising.
That’s until you discover that the figure is based on a sunny country, which might explain why it’s not available as an option in the UK. One neat trick is that the solar panels can be used to recharge another electric vehicle. If the charge is above 15%, it can be used to replenish another battery at a rate of 3.6kW. Not particularly quick, but it could prove useful if you stumble across an EV driver without juice. Oddly enough, it’s not just the UK that loses out on the option; the solar panels aren’t available in North America. A spokesperson for Hyundai North America said: ‘We’re waiting for that technology to improve before introducing it for the U.S. market.’
