Never needing to charge through regen violates thermodynamics. Even if you imagined a perfect regen system that reclaimed 100% of kinetic energy, most of your losses in EVs come from drag (tires and wind resistance) and you don’t get that back
I’ve been pleasantly surprised though how well this works in stop and go traffic like you get in or around Chicago. It does almost seem like you could go indefinitely, even though that’s obviously not possible.
Never needing to charge through regen violates thermodynamics. Even if you imagined a perfect regen system that reclaimed 100% of kinetic energy, most of your losses in EVs come from drag (tires and wind resistance) and you don’t get that back
Yeah I wasn’t being totally realistic. They could have windmills mounted on top that run a steam engine that recharges the battery idk
More drag means more energy to move it. I would love to see solar panels on car roofs some day, but the efficiency isn’t there yet.
I kinda believe aptera will get there under very limited conditions if they ever actually sell a vehicle
I’ve been pleasantly surprised though how well this works in stop and go traffic like you get in or around Chicago. It does almost seem like you could go indefinitely, even though that’s obviously not possible.
Most of that is less about the regenerative breaking than the much lower air resistance at low speed. Mileage in EVs gets crazy high at low speed.
I did notice a significant increase in charge going down a 10 mile slope from the mountains in CO one time on a road trip though.