Solar Powered Cars Are Here - But Can They Go Mainstream? 

If you're an efficiency nut, Aptera is the clear choice!

The Aptera shocked me the moment i heard it, it was a normal night just like any other and i had the same shower thought bugging me, Solar powered cars. Last time i checked it was "unviable" or whatever, but when i searched it up again (Early 2022 i think?) I stumbled upon the Aptera, 1000 miles!?! Thats absurd! Thats 1600 kilometres! I can drive from Toronto to Quebec city and back on a single charge! and the price is fantastic!!!! Truly amazing.

I've been tracking Aptera for years, they definitely deserve more exposure.

Aptera is the coolest and best by far

“It comes in any color, so long as it’s black.” - Sonos 😂😂😂

This is going to be huge in Arizona, New Mexico, etc…

Solar panels on vehicles are the future. And thanks to everyone who promotes such projects. We also produced a series of golf carts last year that travel up to 41 km per day exclusively on solar energy in the summer and just over 20 km in late autumn. This practically made it possible to use this type of transport purely on solar energy.

The visibly aerodynamic Aptera certainly is the most appealing modern vehicle pointing towards the future. It's probably the most elegant vehicle of a time period since the legendary Citroën DS.

Preordered an aptera back in July. I am very excited for the future of solar vehicles. it feels straight out of science fiction

Cost of solar panels on cars, including the glass, will come down so eventually they will be standard equipment on all cars. However, all cars will be charged traditionally too.

I've had a preorder for an Aptera for quite awhile now. I'm really excited for it!

Finally some recognition from Mainstream Media, well done CNBC, Aptera all the way!!!

Got my Aptera on preorder. probably gonna be a couple years but worth it

The future is looking bright, my friends!

The Aptera model looks the most intriguing to me. Simple nothing fancy and low cost. Most people don't need much room or a huge truck to commute. I can see this taking of

This is the direction EV design needs to go -- high efficiency and solar assist. Aptera uses only 100Wh per mile as compared to today's SUV/Truck EVs that use 600-700Wh per mile requiring larger, heavier and more expensive battery packs. Aptera gets 250 miles range from a tiny 25kWh battery pack, 400 miles from a 40kWh (about half the size of today's EVs). Then its solar-assist provides up to 40 miles/day of "free" propulsion. That's over double my daily commute, which means I may never have to charge until a long trip. I just reserved one.

My Aptera reservation # is something under 80, excited to see this exposure!

In southern Arizona, we would always park under one of the few trees in a parking lot, to avoid baking the car in the desert sun. But with these solar vehicles, you'd want to avoid any shade whatsoever. Park outside the garage, in the open, and just soak up that energy. It's a great idea and when they can get solar windows working, and maybe panels on top of the car that open out and add a few square feet of collection, these things will be quite practical, especially in sunnier climates.

My research tells me the Aptera is the blue-ribbon holder. More efficient, better priced, and bleeding edge engineering, which should result in very low to no maintenance, extremely safe, designed as a formula one race car, with a monocoque carbon fiber body stronger than steel by a factor of 6- or 7-times tensile strength of steel. Lightyear comes in a second place, but the Sono is much more in line price wise.

I reserved an Aptera. I want my fish car.

I like the Sion design and the 45kwh battery with 190 mile range. Suggests it is a bit over 2 watts per mile. Very impressive given the body shape. I have wanted an Aptera for 15 years. 38 years ago I dreamed of something like this being possible. I hope everyone who wants one gets that opportunity. Chris was thinking of making 3-4 thousand a year doing hand layup of aircraft quality composites. They have gotten so many reservations they had to find a better method to make the body and a new way to use carbon fibers came on the market. And that technology will bring carbon fiber structural parts down in price. Plus both these companies support the right to repair!! [correcting should have been 200W not 2]

I put 120W of solar panels on my ICE vehicle. My alternator pretty much only runs on long road trips where the solar panels can't keep up and the battery is running low. It saves on gas, I never have to worry about a jump start, I can keep a car refrigerator in there without worrying about the battery dying, I'm ready for any camping or emergency power needs...

Who cares about what investors think. It’s about doing the right thing for the planet. I’ve been wanting a solar panel car since I was a kid! It’s about damn time! 🙏

This should be supported 101% by all people.

I used to be on a solar racing team that competes in the Australian challenge. It’s still a long way to commercialisation. Plus it works with lightweight bodies but not necessarily the safest or practical.

It would be amazing to see this technology implemented more into EVs. Thanks for sharing.

15 miles a day would cover my daily round trip to work, home and some light shopping.

I love these ideas, especially easying the strain the grid. So long as there is a backup way to charge. The sun can be hidden for many days in many areas of the world.

Apteras are nice addition to BEV 🚗. But don't fud facts, today one can drive using solar power alone by owning any number of EVs, have solar panels at home. Electrons is the same if you send it to the grid at peak, then at night pump it from the grid in your EV, at half price. With home 🔋, even better.

We need these made in right-hand-drive for markets like Australia and New Zealand.

This is awesome for students - I drive 5,000 miles a year and most of the time the car just sits in the parking lot, in the sun.

Daily driving for free on stored sunlight with fast charging on long distance trips sounds viable.. eventually EVs will be competing on not just the total range of the battery but also the daily bonus miles from onboard solar, since many people only travel a dozen miles or so most days if at all, and that's not accounting for times when the car might sit parked for several days of free solar charging between shopping trips.

With how cheap and better solar is getting and with how they can now integrate solar into surfaces without even looking like a solar panel, I think it's only a matter of time before many EV carmakers integrate solar into their cars. For many, it could reduce how much energy they need for charging it up or not need any at all for the ones that don't use their cars that much and because of how cheap solar is getting and how it can be applied to almost anything, I wouldn't be surprised over the next decade if a lot of tech gadgets that we buy have solar on them to either extend their life or to fully charge them. That Sion car looks the best one and mainly because of the price point which is key to adoption, a lot of the others are just too expensive to make any real difference in the market, but once they can make cars that most consumers can afford, that's where the real game changer can be and the Sion is hitting that market, assuming it's mileage on solar is as they say. Another advantage of that car is that it actually looks like a car whereas some of the others look like a spaceship from the future, the key to adoption is to use new tech on designs that we are a custom too and this is why the Sion looks the more promising to me, it looks like a car and the price point is reasonable, if it delivers on the miles as the company says, it could become a game changer as long as they keep the price point low for the average consumers to afford.

Aptera 0-60 in 3.5 seconds. Faster than a BMW M3 for 30k. Sign me up!

Still time to invest in aptera at 10/share. 💰

Already reserved an aptera Hugely excited for this especially 1,000 mile range and 3.5 second 0 to 60. Amazing

The cost over the lifetime of the car and even a conservative estimate of energy gained over 3+ years of driving is a much bigger selling point than on a per day analysis. I love the idea of trickle charging my car simply by being outside (Florida in my case).

Sion is cool with LFP battery and bidirectional charging. 25000 excl. VAT is a very good price for a family car.

These will be perfect for surviving a zombie apocalypse

Thanks a lot CNBC for updating us about the great Australian Solar Challenge. I was wondering what happened to all those innovative cars showcased there! Great to hear that Lightyear comes from that experience!

I love the lightyear. Will buy stock as soon as available and will buy the $30,000 version of the car.

I’m on the waitlist for Aptera, but I don’t expect the company will be around to deliver. Problem is that costs have risen dramatically since the car was announced. Not sure if the company is big enough to absorb the costs. Perhaps next time.

Does anybody know if you can still invest in Aptera?

Love the concept, but seems any number of accidents would render the vehicle inoperable and/or totaled. I mean a simple fender bender for the average car, would be tragic for some of these cars that has chargers in the front, panels on the side body, or motors in the wheels. I'm guessing they designed in best case and not for the hazards of driving in areas like Los Angles, or NYS, or where there are bad potholes and other obstacles to navigate through. Again, love the concept, but I feel some of these designs are lacking.

This will open up every square mile in the entire USA! People can affordably drive anywhere.

They can go MAINSTREAM if cheap enough to buy.

I have read some poignant as well as stupid comments. These vehicles are not claiming they will work with just their solar cells. Some people will have to use charging stations depending on their mileage requirements. Lastly, these vehicles are not for everyone's lifestyle and situations.

That last part is the most important. Governments can use personal transports that are actually just mobile batteries that plug into the city grid. Solar panels on buildings, roofs, and structures throughout the city. Three wheel transports are the future for sure

I definitely drive at least 150 miles a day so definitely interesting to me to add back in some miles so I don’t have to stop at a super charger on way home. Most cases I stop to charge my car for like 15 minutes and then finish charging at home.

U folks at CNBC do a great job on these EV and auto-related “series” stories - topical and informative. Please produce more.

Could be nice to see this on a larger scale in the future with full solar capabilities, it would be best if you have a nice sunny parking spot at work/school/etc. then you can get it charged throughout the day and have a nice green ride home

Can't wait for Aptera. Hoping for a "blanket" or something to shade the windows so it's not blistering hot after parking in the sun

I love that they're pushing solar to the limit on cars. Clearly, this has a long way to go. 15 miles a day, or 5,500 miles a year from the sun, is not enough to justify the costs you'll pay for this technology and, more importantly, the amount you'll pay to fix it when someone crashes into you. If we assume a gas car getting a combined 35mpg and $4 a gall for gas, 5,500 miles would cost roughly $630. We all know any car with solar panels all over it is going to cost an additional $15K. You'd have to drive it 24 years just to break even. But again, let's see where this goes. Personally, I'd prefer induction charging. You park you car, walk away and it's charging from plates under the road, just like when you put your toothbrush in its holder and it starts charging. This technology already exists. We just need it everywhere. Then, the country needs to build more solar farms to reduce our fossil fuel profile. Good stuff.

They are a great choice in a more rural infrastructure environment. the challenge I see is in places like Japan or China where cars generally parked underground. In Suzhou i park underground at my apartment and at my work. This would mean I could capture power only during the driving to and from work. I love the concept of this idea, but have to admit the challenges also.

I mean, it is a good theoretical idea, but in the end, it's batteries that are holding us back, if we made a battery efficient enough then we can say drive 2x more for the same amount of fossil fuels. It's all about efficiency, I was in electrical engineering for multiple years and I made a project about the theoretical idea of solar powered cars, designed my own and everything, but when you crunch the numbers, it's a very weak idea because the weather can change it's efficiency. At least we're starting different ideas, but we still need to work on what we have currently and hopefully we'll find a solution in 50 years because that's all the time we got to reduce climate change caused by fossil fuels

They cannot use solar panels to fully power shorter drives. They can't begin to generate enough electricity from solar quickly enough to power the vehicles in real time. What the solar does is kind of top off the tank when the car is parked and the sun is out.

An issue I see is how they talk about few people traveling longer distances in a day I routinely travel 40-60 miles a day. I also don't see talk about the capacity of the vehicles. If the vehicle can only carry the person and nothing else is it really a convenient solution?

I have a reservation for an Aptera!!’ Can’t wait!’

How about an update on the Aptera? I have an early reservation on the 600 mile version but they are prioritizing the 400 mile version.

This looks so promising. I can’t wait to go from be stuck in California traffic behind a Tesla to eventually behind an Aptera. The future looks so bright.

Okay so, Lightyear One and Sono Sion will basically come from the same factory. Interesting.

It's been an uphill battle but worth all the effort.

Solar-powered cars sound like a great idea. But how much to buy, fix,maintenance etc? Does it have heaters, air circulation. Possibly thoese 1970's triangle air pusher windows that take outside air and use it internally.

It's not a matter of can anymore. It's not even a matter of when. The question now is really is in how many ways. Solar panels now are cheaper, lighter, more flexible and can even be made transparent. So EVs in the next 3 years will start to have solar panels. It's just a question of where nad how OEMs want to put them in.

Seems like they need to be hybrids. They can harvest solar energy enough to heat up some conductive metals, and cars can generate friction heat to make electrons flow. Modern anti corrosion materials now allow salt water and conductive metal to make electricity as well.

In the USA, the average vehicle carries 1.5 passengers and average distance driven, 35 miles per day. I would like to see modular EVs, starting with 2 seats and modular batteries that starts at at range of 100 miles. The vehicle carrying capacity and range can be rented to add for the rare occasion people need to carry more or drive further distance. This would free resources to make more EVs and drive down the cost.

Doesn't the efficiency of solar cells drop off dramatically if they're not perpendicular to the direction of the sun though? 🤔

My main concern is the safety of the vehicle in a crash. Lightweight is great and all for range but if I am in an accident all of that means nothing to me.

4:12 "This car comes in any color as you like, as long as it is black", i'm skeptic that this guy didn't know that's a phrase that Henry Ford the First said. I was hopping to someone in the video giving credit where credit is due.

They need to make an unfolding solar roof to increase the surface area by 2-3x more when parked at a wide open space.

Nice video

Intresting that the motors in the wheels are a new design choice. Considering how bad some roads are in the US... yeah i could see that design not holding up over time.

0:19 looks like a scene from gtav , a person in the trunk. darn! merryweather :D

The only way I would be able to afford this is in a used market I wonder what's the price going to be after used

0:19 How many of you noticed the person in the trunk? 😆

i love the design of abtera, but sadly it does NOT look accident-safe

Maybe have solar flaps to extend out and quintuple the solar panel surface area if you aren't moving? Could also do solar panel add on accessories.

Disclaimer; storage under shade or enclosed structures, such as garages or carports, not recommended

I love that George Jetson looking Aptera.

I already have 2 Apteras on preorder

"15 to 45 miles in a sunny area", depending on what you buy. Converting to real-life scenarios, with a/c on a usual summer day in "sunny areas", on-board computers and even fckn shade. And cities are being designed to provide as much shade as possible. Or even not summer. All-in-all, a super cool and advanced tiny city commuter or a end-of-the-week groceries celebration. Definitely beats the e-corkinet swag. How much?

I want one. Bring this to South Africa please

Replacement to public transport specifically a trampway spread across city. Instead of increasing consumption of already depleting resources.

I will agree though solar panels is great because I use it on my camper trailer and camper van which is free Power I love it so yes by definition solar power with Alexian batteries is awesome.. especially if you have a camper vehicle like me..

I wish the Sono would have more regenerative braking ability. Only 50KW

I drive a gen 1 Honda Insight. Well, I drive it occasionally. Refuel it twice a year. It's only to get around town and use it as a shopping trolley. A two seater solar car putting 10 miles a day into the battery would do just fine. However it's the other costs that need to be addressed. Should my insurance really be the same as a person who drives hundreds of miles per week? Should my road tax be the same as a long distance driver? I think not. Cost of ownership currently encourages maximum use of the car. This needs to change.

Nice balanced report. Thanks

I truly hope Aptera with sir Munro would be successful even though it only has 3 wheels which what turns everybody off and is quite expensive compared to Model 3. They should wait until it has four wheels before they sell it, I deeply pray, fast & deeply hope. God bless.

For people who already have a solar panel and battery storage in your house, a solar powered car doesn't significantly add more value

Wait so since the Aptera is considered a motorcycle, does it have or is it required to have airbags??

@0:18 Do I see two people riding in the trunk???

Very cool.

Sell it in Indonesia. We have sunlinght the whole year for 12 hours a day. 270 Millions population. And silica sand source can get from here for the source of solar panels.

Interesting concept but this has many more years of R & D to go mainstream.

this is like those solar powered torches that only REALLY work if you charge them up from the wall periodiccally

Seems some workable option, This is actually need of the hour, who will not purchase a car for daily commuting which is Costing less and no fuel required. The world is yours my dear Solar cars Manufacturers

So I have to drag out my device into the light, but it will never give me silent, obedient consent.

I support aptera, I'm not a fan of cars, but this is a nice machine.

IDK what kind of economies of scale light year thinks it can do to bring the 250K cost down to 30K

Sadly as expressed by Dagogo Altraid from, "Cold Fusion," the Lightyear company has gone bankrupt. BUT they are reorganising to come back with a much cheaper car!