Additional Solar Panels (break even)

[curtis-cibinel]

Given I plan to mainly park in the garage (vandalism concerns), have cheap power, and only have 3.5 hrs of peak in kelowna anyway it will take over 25 years. I might get the hood for aestedics but otherwise the business case is weak (for me). Aptera looks great but the solar isn’t a draw for me. Being a cheap ev sports car with good storage is more than enough.

[ab-reitsma]

The same applies to me, but I will go for the full solar package anyway because I think it will be very convenient on outdoor camping trips.

I do not have to justify the extra cost, as long as I can spare the money, I will buy an Aptera in the configuration I like best 😁

[Greek]

Ab, I’m with you when it comes to personal choice. I’m sure I will never recoup the cost of the full solar package but I still will order it. I look at it as more of an insurance against power loss in my area. Even though in the 37 year I have lived in my area, only once did we have a power loss that lasted longer than a few hours.

My premise is, if you have the means, to insure or protect your future from local and or national events, (which for me also includes transportation) I try to limit my family’s vulnerability to what may come. I’m a liberal progressive with my lifestyle but am one who will do what ever I can to prepare for the worse. I’m not a doomsday kind of person, just someone who is precautious. I can’t produce gasoline at home, but if I can produce electricity to power my home and my vehicle, I will.

[curtis-cibinel]

My garage is in a separate building 100 meters from my 3rd floor condo. I’m not going to be running an extension cord to power my refrigerator from my Aptera in an emergency. Also the longest power outage I’ve had in the last 15 years was 30 minutes. Solar makes sense for California but they still really need to invest in the grid because long outages should never be the norm.

[Riley]

Thank you for posting this, if anyone is having trouble justifying an aptera we can use this as another selling point.

I will break even for the $900 full solar in 1.33 years and will break even for the entire car in 50 years. If I factor in the additional savings of driving a more efficient car aptera will pay for itself in 16.6 years.

I have the most expensive electricity in the country at 0.44 per kwh

[Mike-Mars]

> I have the most expensive electricity in the country at 0.44 per kwh

Don’t forget the people who can’t charge at home (apartments etc) and have to charge at public stations. For example, in my part of the world, the average rapid public charger cost is around $0.72/kWh (compared to domestic at $0.37/kWh).
For us, the extra solar panels pay themselves off very quickly in money terms, but there is also a time saving (avoiding having to hang around at a public charger for hours).

• This reply was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by  Michael Marsden.

[Doug]

Here is an update to the spreadsheet.

Break-Even-Calculator-1.xlsx 13 KB Excel Spreadsheet - Click to view

• Copy Download Link

[david-marlow]

The point for me is in demonstrating that driving on solar power is possible and that the reliance on fossil fuels can be minimized. While people worry about loss of jobs in the fossil fuel industry, there are many more and better jobs to be gained by the use of new technology’s.

[don-venardos]

If you do live in a sunny area adding the full solar package seems like a great way to extend your range vs upgrading to a higher capacity battery.

[don-venardos]

Edit: I see that you have to add all the solar panels to get the advertised recharge rate.

[dan-flynn]

How about installing Solar Tubes in garage roof to be able to park Aptera in the garage and still be able to charge by sunlight, during daylight hours?

[stephen-seibel]

I was thinking about this as well. Thank you for the calculator. It works out to a little more than 10 years, so it is a real toss up for me.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 3 months ago by  Stephen Seibel.

[seth]

I suspect most people with jobs don’t park in a garage during the peak solar hours. Granted I also suspect this forum has a high percentage of retirees who won’t benefit too much from the solar other than bragging rights. The solar could also make the difference between using a wall outlet, and installing a level2 charger which pays off instantly.

[curtis-cibinel]

Everyone’s situation is different. I went from parking in the underground at my office building to working from home 100% of the time when covid happened – either way solar is not very useful. I think level 1 will be fine for 90+% of Aptera owners.

[craig-merrow]

Kind of like my house; I was off the grid for several years, and designed the house to be as efficient as possible. When I was able to plug into the grid last year, I discovered that I only use 4 kwh per day, but generate considerably more than I use. With an Aptera, I expect that the full solar package will meet about 75% of my needs, while plugging into the house will cover the balance during the winter months – and I’ll still be producing more power than I use!