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Comment by angrygoat | Hacker News Reader

The claimed range would meet easily meet my mileage five days of the week – it's a big win! I'm in a fairly sunny city in Australia so I imagine I'd get a decent charge much of the time. I don't think this'd work so well in say, Vancouver, but then every place has to use the renewable energy sources locally available :-)

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If you don't park in the shade. If your parking space doesn't tilt slightly away from the the sun.

For the same money you would be far better off installing some solar panels permanently somewhere along with a battery that can transfer that power into the car when you get home. Or, better yet, skip the batteries and plug the solar panels into the grid. The more solar panels attached to the grid the better. Anyone who cares about the environment would put panels on their house, lawn, driveway and pets long before their car. This is a fashion statement, a fancy paint job.

(And most people would be shocked at how much solar power is available in Vancouver. Without dust in the air, droughts most summers, and the lack of mountains to the south, Vancouver does fairly well in terms of solar.)

+1 for the idea of putting solar panels on the pets. Pretty sure of the same marketing people who think putting solar cells on a car roof will be cost effective would love that idea.

Most people who live in big cities in the EU dont have a house (and they make up >50% of the population). They live in apartments. Isnt this the case for the USA too?

And those cars would be parked underground, or at least on city streets ... not the best places for solar.

If your commute is 5 miles/day, that's also bikeable, even walkable.

> in a fairly sunny city in Australia

nope, not doing that -- too hot.

If you need AC, then your EV range will also suffer.

That's about a 90-minute walk each way. Even in the age of podcasts and earbuds, that's a supremely unappealing way to cover 5 miles.

I don't know how fast they walk down in Australia, but in the USA, that's around 45 minutes each way.

5 miles at 45 minutes is 6.66 miles/hour. Unless most Americans are professional speed walkers I think that's jogging speed.

I think you’re confusing 5 miles / day with 5 miles each way. 5 miles per day is 2.5m each way which is about 45 minutes each way of walking and 90 minutes total walking per day (not each way)

Average walking speed is 3.2 miles/hour or less [1]. That's 94 minutes for 5 miles.

[1] https://www.healthline.com/health/exercise-fitness/average-w...

So 47 each way... splitting hairs.

Or 20 minute cycle

90 minutes per day not each way if the commute is 5 miles per day. That’s walking distance of you’re motivated, but if I lived 2.5 miles from work I think I’d commute on my OneWheel at least when it’s not raining.

It's 2.5 miles each way, pretty walkable if weather is ok. Probably not even uphill each way. :-)

In my particular case I work from home, and my 'commute' is back and forth from church in the morning; I give a lift to a friend who isn't terribly mobile, so the car is necessary – otherwise I'd be on the bicycle. Unusual, I'll grant :-)

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