Here's Why Electric Cars Can't Charge Themselves

Mass-produced electric cars can’t charge themselves for one simple reason: the technology doesn't exist. Progress has been made towards self-charging electric cars, but it is still in its infancy. This means it is still very expensive.

 

On top of this, the infrastructure doesn’t exist to support self-charging cars and there are no Governments driving the idea forwards.

 

However, scientists are making developments in this field. While it is not possible yet, electric cars may be able to charge themselves in the future.

 

Can Electric Cars Charge Themselves?

No, electric cars are not able to charge themselves.

 

According to the second law of thermodynamics, energy always flows from a higher state to a lower state, meaning it cannot flow upwards without an external force.

 

The electric motor in an EV uses the energy to move the car, and it cannot generate enough energy to recharge the battery by itself, which is why we must plug our electric vehicles into a power source.

 

Mild and Full Hybrid vehicles could be referred to as self-charging vehicles, as they are assisted by a self-charging battery through kinetic energy generated by braking. However, they wouldn’t drive without the combustion engine.

 

 

Isn’t Regenerative Braking a Form of Self-Charging?

While regenerative braking technically counts as self-charging, it is nowhere near effective enough to fully recharge an electric car.

 

Regenerative braking relies on drivers lifting their foot off the accelerator or pressing the brake pedal often enough to capture kinetic energy and store it in the battery. If you often drive in the city or at low speeds, you can extend your car’s range by around 20% by using regenerative braking. On the flip side, if you usually drive on the motorway, it is much harder to extend the range of your EV.

 

Most importantly, regenerative braking only captures between 16% - 70% of the energy, not all of it. It is not effective enough to create a true self-charging electric car.

 

Is a Self-Charging Car Possible and How Would It Work?

While there are limited ways for an electric car to be self-charging, there are some alternatives that are being explored by experts in the industry.

 

Volkswagen Autonomous Charging Robots

In 2019, VW Group proposed the concept of mobile charging robots to charge and communicate with electric cars. These would be installed in car parks and drivers could summon and control them via an app. After that, the robots would control your vehicle and charge it as needed.

 

This idea is still in the prototype stage, but VW group seem to be moving forward with the scheme. However, there are still huge issues with the technology and the infrastructure to overcome. While not technically self-charging, this idea would revolutionise EV charging if VW can make it work.

 

Wireless Charging

Electric cars use the same lithium-ion batteries as smartphones, so the concept of wireless charging is certainly possible. In fact, there are certain products currently available that can charge an EV this way.

 

This form of self-charging uses electromagnetic induction. This involves passing an electric current (captured and stored in the battery) through a pair of coils. One of these coils would sit in the charging unit and act as the transmitter and the other would sit on your car and act as the receiver.

 

A wireless charger can be installed in a garage or on the road surface and charge an EV effectively. Companies such as BMW, Hyundai, Tesla and WiTricity have invested in wireless EV charging, but since the technology is still so expensive, it could be a while until we see them widespread.

 

Wind Turbines

Wind powered cars have been discussed and prototyped by several companies.

 

Mercedes-Benz has prototyped a car powered by the wind and four electric motors on each hub, referring to it as ‘Formula Zero’. Lotus also developed a wind powered car, which was technically a hybrid that used wind energy.

 

However, wind power is fundamentally flawed because turbines would be too heavy and create far too much drag. This will slow the car down, meaning it needs more power to move in the first place. The only way to solve this would be to add more wind turbines, creating a 'vicious circle'.

 

Generators/Alternators

This involves attaching a generator and alternator to the wheels of electric cars. Wind turbine technology would power these to keep EVs zero-emissions vehicles.

 

Unfortunately, this technology would be heavy and expensive. EV batteries already make them heavier than a petrol or diesel car, and attaching a generator to each wheel is only going to make that worse. On top of that, the technology still needs a lot of expensive Research & Development which would increase the cost of electric cars.

 

Solar Panels

Solar panels are probably the best option for a self-charging electric car. In fact, this technology already exists in a road-legal car…

 

The Lightyear 0 was a working solar-powered electric car created by a team of Dutch developers.

 

The developers claim that the Lightyear 0 can travel 388 miles on a fully charged battery. They also say it can the solar panels mean it can go several months without charging - up to 1,000km! (621 miles).

 

However, production was short lived, as it was only produced for less than a year - in January 2023 the company halted productions. Lightyear are now focusing their efforts on Lightyear 2, due to start production in 2025 and have a much lower and accessible price point.

 

 

Why Don’t More Electric Cars Have Solar Panels to Charge Themselves?

While the Lightyear proves that solar panels can create a self-charging electric car, the technology still has several issues:

 

• It is very untested. The long-term ability of a solar-powered self-charging car is still unclear.

• It doesn’t charge the car very quickly. Lightyear claims that their solar panels will give you 12km (7 miles) range for every hour of charging. This is helpful if you only make short journeys, but not so much if you drive a long way each day.

• It is currently very expensive. Prices for the Lightyear 0 started from €297,500 (£249,394.77). Plans for a much more affordable Lightyear Two model are in the works but are still some way off.

• Only one company has invested in the technology. The Lightyear 0 is the only example of a solar-powered, self-charging EV. What’s more, Lightyear are still a start-up that are reliant on outside investment to even bring the car to market.

 

Will We See More Self-Charging Electric Cars in the Future?

The technology is developing rapidly, so we're likely to see more self-charging electric cars in the future. However, there are still political and scientific barriers to overcome.

 

Science

The scientific theories we mentioned above aren't that practical. This means there are still plenty of problems to overcome. For example, solar power doesn’t charge a car very fast, and generators aren't effective because they can’t capture all the kinetic energy.

 

Testing new theories are also expensive and require investors. The riskier the idea, the fewer investors will be interested.

 

Politics

Simply put, no Government is investing in self-charging electric cars. They need strong political support and investment during the development process, and no one is prepared to give this yet.

 

More importantly, there are huge infrastructure issues. Our society is not set up to accommodate self-charging cars and the logistics to get to that point are complex and challenging.

 

Until these attitudes change and we get the significant breakthroughs we need to make self-charging cars affordable and effective, we won’t see any more any time soon.

 

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