As a person who lives in SF, doesn't have a garage, owns a model 3, and uses outdoor street parking, I have to disagree. The convenience of not having to periodically go to a charging station and pay a major premium for that electricity might be well worth it.
Where I usually park, it's sunny 90% of the time, not too hot, and mostly unshaded. This sounds pretty close to optimal, so according to the article I could probably expect to be topped off most of the time with a good panel setup.
I probably drive around 50 miles a week (not counting longer road trips) and lose charge while parked as well. Accordingly I charge up once every 2 weeks or so for about $15-20. That's about $400 a year. Not even accounting for the help on longer road trips, that makes things financially worth it in just 4-6 years for me. That's not even to mention how much more convenient and time saving it could be.
I think the thing that would have me most concerned is the possibility of having my car broken into and losing the panels to theft... So probably a pipe dream for now.
Where I usually park, it's sunny 90% of the time, not too hot, and mostly unshaded. This sounds pretty close to optimal, so according to the article I could probably expect to be topped off most of the time with a good panel setup.
I probably drive around 50 miles a week (not counting longer road trips) and lose charge while parked as well. Accordingly I charge up once every 2 weeks or so for about $15-20. That's about $400 a year. Not even accounting for the help on longer road trips, that makes things financially worth it in just 4-6 years for me. That's not even to mention how much more convenient and time saving it could be.
I think the thing that would have me most concerned is the possibility of having my car broken into and losing the panels to theft... So probably a pipe dream for now.