CNBC: The world’s first commercial solar electric vehicles (EVs) are slated to hit the U.S. and European markets as early as the end of this year. Sono Motors, Aptera Motors, and Lightyear are all developing vehicles with integrated solar cells and lithium-based batteries that can charge using electricity from the grid.
While these first-generation models have limited ranges, EcoBlock co-PI and UC Berkeley professor Dan Kammen sees a future where they can harness new technologies such as solar glass to support long-distance drives.
“It really builds into this idea that as we electrify transportation, we’re not actually going to be stressing the grid,” noted Kammen. “More vehicles themselves can be more and more autonomous. And in the end, I think we’re going to be selling electricity out of our solar cars back into the grid.”