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GoSun's EV Solar Charger Unfolds From Your Car's Roof

By Rain Noe - August 6

in Sustainability | Cars

This roofrack-mounted EV Solar Charger is by clean energy company GoSun. You unfurl it once parked, taking advantage of your car's footprint to soak up the maximum amount of sunlight (and keeping your vehicle a bit cooler).

The company says the 1,200-watt charger can add 10-20 miles of range per day, and "up to 30"—but curiously, they don't mention how long it has to be charging to produce those figures: Eight hours? Twelve hours?

The 70-lb object can be installed on a standard roof rack, the company says, in 20 minutes by two people.

The asking price is $3,000, "potentially eligible for 30% tax credit." The company is taking pre-orders now, and expects to ship next year.

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Jamie Bresner

3 months ago

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Some quick napkin math...

A 1200-watt solar panel will produce 1200 watts/hr in ideal sun conditions. For something like a Tesla X, which has a battery capacity of 100kWh, it would take almost 6 hours to charge to get the 20 miles of charging capacity (again, under ideal sun conditions).

Seems more like a very expensive extra can of gasoline to carry around on the roof of the car but maybe for some it's a nice way to not worry about those last few miles if they have the time to spare.

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Larry M

3 months ago

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This device is essentially a 110v 15amp outlet. Tesla says you can get 2-3 miles of added range for each hour of charging from this type of power source. At first glance I thought it was overpriced, but it’s not out of line with other offerings for portable solar panels. With a little premium for the packaging it seems reasonable. Pricey, but not overpriced. As an apartment dweller with no choice other than public charging it will take about 100 months to break even with Tesla SuperChargers. But, once you buy one of these you eliminate the risk of electric rate increases. It’s on my wish list.

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