Fuel doesn't run out quickly in gasoline cars. Electric cars, however? they run out of power fast. Since there won't be fuel stations soon, how about a roof accessory? Solar panels for electric cars. How it would work: if you're not in throttle or reverse, The solar panels would activate. if the time of day is between 6:00 and 18:00, Like in real life, it will convert the sunlight into electricity and charge the battery with the energy. positioning would be like this(blue represents solar panel) Esbr: Vivace E/Tograc QE: for the roofless unibody If needed, a possible light bar compatible version charging rate: Esbr charges fully within 1 minute, panoramic roof Tograc QE/Vivace E charges fully after 5 minutes, non-panoramic roof panel charges fully in 30 seconds, light bar compatible takes 45 seconds to charge fully. Additionally: if it's inside a tunnel, or is covered by a shadow, it will not charge the car. deformation will not cause any changes to the charging, but if it gets detached, charging will be disabled until respawn. so, your thoughts?
I know, just that they don't work. There's a literal scenario where you're driving to a charging station, just that the scenario ends when you get there(no charging shown). There's a lot of potential, it's just not being worked on. As for the simple fuel increase when inactive, that's probably very easy to code(my guess). The realistic features, however? (time of day, shadows, detaching) they're probably time-consuming to code.
Solar is generally not suitable for automotive solutions due to the ratio of surface area to charging capacity. With current PV chemistry it is only suitable to support vehicle accessories.
Solar cars are made up of many small solar PV cells which generate electricity. PV cell is sandwiched by semi-conducting material like silicon. When this mixed with phosphorous and boron, gives each side a positive and negative electrical charge, thus creating an electric field between the two layers. When a photon of sunlight knocks an electron free, the metal conductive plates on the sides of the cell collect the electrons and transfer them to wires. From the wire, electrons can flow like a source of electricity to power the car. Almost half a decade back, German startup Sono Motors created Sion, the world’s first prototype electric car with solar recharging. Sion is capable of becoming a mobile power storage device giving backup power when necessary. It can recharge itself automatically using solar energy. It is free of cost and without carbon emission. The car has 248 solar PV cells incorporated into its body. Solar cars with solar PV panels can generate approximately 8 kWh of energy per day. However, energy generation depends on various factors like weather conditions, driving conditions, positioning of the panels, and maintenance of panels. Poor weather condition, improper positioning of panels, and accumulation of dirt would make it impossible to achieve even that 8kWh. source: https://regenpower.com/articles/solar-energy-car-possible-or-not/
Found this in a MoveElectric article fullycharged also supports sion Everyone seems to support solar cars, articles are only really concerned with efficiency. --- Post updated --- About the original idea: The inactivity thing is so that you don't charge while consuming fuel, which would keep you stuck on 100% fuel all the time not laying paneling over the panoramic roof is because it would block the sunlight from the outside, and block the interior view. Light bar compatible one probably won't be used in a stock police config since there aren't even EV police car configs, but it should exist so that a custom version with the panel wouldn't end up causing overlap chaos, covering the light bar, or being out of place. charging rate is based on size, Esbr is average size, so 1 minute. panoramic roof panel is extremely small, hence the slow charging speed. the roofless panel is almost double the Esbr size, it would charge quickly. The light bar version is a cut in half version, so it would only be kind of faster. shadow and tunnel feature is so that you're not charging inside a building, in an underground parking space, or in a literal tunnel. If there's a shadow over the panel, there's most likely an obstruction between the panel and sunlight, severely deformed solar panel is still attached, so wiring would work. if it's detached, it wouldn't work. 6:00 is sunrise, and 18:00 is sunset.
Aah yes buses & artics IS a good idea, as long as the weight isn't an issue. Like all these technologies, they all have a part to play in the overall picture. Solar would be an interesting concept to bring to the game. Sunraycer anyone?
Thinking a little advanced about this: The panel accessory would be located in roof accessories for the Esbr, and roof rack accessories for the cherrier FCV. 2 different slots: solar panel, light bar with solar panel. Thinking about it, cars like the sion don't just slap a panel on top and call it a day, the whole car has paneling, the doors, the hood, the tailgate, the roof, etc. They could do it in-game to the car parts the Sbr4's country of origin is japan, so a solar panel would only be an aftermarket roof accessory. The Cherrier FCV has its country of origin as Italy, development of electric cars is popular in Europe, so it would make sense to have at least a prototype solar version. it would be called the 'Vivace E co'. parts would be as follows: solar panel hood, solar panel door, solar panel tailgate, solar panel fenders, and lastly, solar panel roof accessory. If each part were to boost charging efficiency by 10%, all combined would give a massive boost of 80% this means, on the solid roof vivace/tograc, this would have a charging time of 6 seconds. the glass roof version would charge in 1 minute. a police car modified to be electric would take 9 seconds. The FCV would have special 'E co' configs if this were to exist. the Esbr would likely not have a panel config, and instead, have it as an optional part. FCV descriptions: Vivace E co A self-sustaining electric vehicle that charges during the day. Tograc E co A high-performance AWD self-sustaining version. Takes longer to charge. Would be a great addition till then, I'll wait.
