[sherbondy]

I’m still holding out hope that vehicles like the Aptera (https://aptera.us) manage to make it to production and help buck this trend.

From a sheer efficiency POV, rooftop or grid-scale solar installations will always be more effective than solar on an EV, but I think you’re right: there’s something to be said for how effective automakers are at packaging technology and pushing the frontier of competition that could further reverberate throughout the industry.

For the average consumer, purchasing your next vehicle and having all of these capabilities integrated is so much more straightforward and accessible compared to retrofitting your home with solar, battery, and the electronics required for managing the system and dynamically interfacing with the grid. If you’re a renter, many of these conversions are simply out of the question.

We are seeing more solar add-on options on conventional vehicles, with the likes of Hyundai Ioniq 5 and the Toyota Prius Prime including solar roof options. But they remain premium options rather than standard trims for now, as you mentioned.