Nissan Put Solar Panels On An Ariya EV. Here's How Much Range They Add

It's a reasonable amount, but I wouldn't be planning any solar-powered road trips.

Nissan Ariya Solar Concept

Photo by: Nissan

Andrei Nedelea

By: Andrei Nedelea

Jan 28, at 11:16am ET

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Nissan’s built a one-off Ariya with solar panels that can add up to 14.3 miles per day in ideal sun, but far less in cloudier cities.
A sunny 50-mile drive generated roughly 0.5 kWh of power—roughly 2 miles of “free” range trickling into the battery.
Solar EVs still haven't taken off: Lightyear failed, Toyota and Hyundai's gains are small and Aptera’s launch timeline is uncertain.

The Nissan Ariya isn't the world's most exciting EV, with so-so specs and a forgettable design that lead to it failing in the U.S. But Nissan just made it a lot more interesting, slapping solar panels onto a one-off prototype for extra range. The experimental car can add up to 14.3 miles of range per day in heavy sunlight, even if that requires perfect conditions. In the real world, the company says the car can get up to 13.2 miles of range per day while tooling around sunny Dubai, or just 6.3 miles of extra oomph in cloudy London.

Taking the car on a two-hour 50-mile (80 km) trip on a sunny day added 0.5 kilowatt-hours of electricity to the battery pack, Nissan claims, which is just under 2 miles (3 km) of extra range. That’s not a lot, but it is free range harnessed from the sun . Over the course of the year, it can reduce charging frequency by between 35% and 65% according to Nissan, although this heavily depends on how long the daily commute is and whether the car is parked outside.

This sun-loving Ariya was created in partnership with Lightyear, the solar car company that wanted to produce its own vehicles but whose manufacturing arm declared bankruptcy after only building a handful of cars. It has around 40.9 square feet (3.8 square meters) of solar panels split between its hood, roof and tailgate, which convert sunlight into DC power that goes straight into the battery.

Nissan doesn’t have any plans to offer a solar array on its production electric cars in the near future, but according to the company’s electric powertrain boss, Shunsuke Shigemoto, “by exploring how vehicles can generate their own renewable energy, we are opening the door to new opportunities for customers – greater freedom, reduced charging dependency, and a cleaner future. This concept is not just a technical milestone; it’s a vision of how Nissan intends to lead the next phase of electric mobility.”