I converted a motorcycle to electric (72VDC / 6.5kWh battery and 8kW hub motor) I have a DC port which connects the pins via a contactor to the battery. The contactor opens when the BMS detects when one of the cells reaches top voltage. I simply plug in 3 24V Solar panels in series (=72V ) to charge the bike. This way the typical DC/AC and then AC/DC conversion can be avoided. There are two ways of doing this:
1) Simple direct port, like on my motorcycle.
2) Design a solar charge CCS interface. This way you connect DC to the battery in using the CCS protocol but instead of grid power you have an array of solar panels matching your DC system voltage.
So !
DC ONLY can be done with extra solar panels layed wired to car while soaking sun a place possibly away from car with more sunlight, to charge more and possibly fully, on solar.
Probably useful especially for commercial vehicle applications: give ability to remove part of battery from car to connect with solar array that’s too far away from vehicle or for use in another place by another device away from vehicle ex. At construction site where theres no grid of a building like a factory available, some factories may not even want to have a grid expansion for their needs and would rather be able to move around batteries.
My 8kW motorcyle uses 6kWh/100km (more than the Aptera!!!) and I do around 30-40km a day which I do from lunch time to afternoon. On 3 270Wp panels facing the east (=morning sun in Australia) it has usually finished charging around 11:00 AM. I would never park my vehicle in the sun as I keep them for many years and I prefer a cool cabin when I hop in too. For the Aptera a solar carport sounds good to me, solar panels are so cheap and can replace the traditional roof. Have one at your home and one at your work and Bob is Your Uncle.
I'd be really interested in this option. I'd build a carport or garage with solar and never pay to charge again.
solar should be a foldable grid so u can lay it on the ground or tie it down around a roof, industrial flexibility
I just use a 50A Anderson port with a sealing flap. To me it is not really necessary for the vehicle to carry an ac charger. Waste of weight and design space. There are sufficient DC chargers in most countries taking the Aptera's range into the equation. For my motorcycle i carry a portable 2kW ac charger if i need to but it is not integrated into the bike. That ac charger then plugs into the same port as the solarpanels do. Using this system for over 2 years and super happy with it.