Ferrari has entered the all-electric vehicle market with the Luce, which debuted in early June and left a lot of people scratching their heads in confusion. Whatever you think of the Ferrari Luce, it’s a tech powerhouse, all the way down to famed Apple designer Jony Ive being involved.
With that in mind, it shouldn’t be surprising that Ferrari is pushing hard on some tech-forward thinking, and CarBuzz recently found a patent that showcases an interesting idea. While having a solar panel on the roof of a car to keep batteries topped up is an old idea, Ferrari’s patent takes it a step further to try and maximize the solar panel’s effectiveness.
The first time we saw a solar panel built into the design of a mainstream car, it was an option for the 2018 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid in the form of solar cells built into its roof. While a solar-equipped roof is becoming more common, Ferrari’s idea for solar panels is a lot more sophisticated. The patent is based around a roll-up photovoltaic panel that can be retracted and extracted from a chamber inside the roof through a slot. The reason Ferrari gives for extending the panel is that it can create shade to help keep the passenger compartment cooler when parked, as well as charge a battery.
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Not only can the extendable solar panel be drawn out to shade the front window, but the patent drawings show a solar panel being drawn up from a compartment under the rear window at an angle. Crucially, it appears that Ferrari wants to hide and not use the solar panels when the car is moving, using sensors and weather data to automate how the panels react when the car is parked outside.
According to Ferrari’s patent, the panel uses a U-shaped member and two support rods to extend the photovoltaic panel out from its roller. Compared with the idea of turning the roof of a car into a solar panel, this solution is complicated, and the photovoltaic panel can only convert sunlight into energy when the car is parked outside.
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While the average Ferrari is unlikely to be parked outside in the sun often, the Luce is different, as it’s clearly designed to be a daily driver – although the car Ferrari shows in the drawings looks much sportier.
While this looks like a bit of a throwaway idea, it shows Ferrari is actively thinking about the future of electric and hybrid vehicles. Solar panels aren’t the most efficient way of charging a car, but they’re getting better each year. Hyundai claims its solar roof can charge 30% to 60% of the battery per day, which is substantial. In ideal conditions, that would cover the average journey to and from work, assuming the battery has a range of over 200 miles when fully charged.
Of course, the keywords there are “ideal conditions.” The effectiveness of solar power and charging are variable depending on weather conditions. But the real reason we suspect this won’t suddenly appear as a feature on Ferrari models is because adding weight (and complexity) to the roof of a car and affecting the center of gravity is antithetical to Ferrari’s pursuit of handling perfection and clean design.
Patent filings do not guarantee the use of such technology in future vehicles and are often used exclusively as a means of protecting intellectual property. Such a filing cannot be construed as confirmation of production intent.
Source: US Patent & Trademark Office
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