After our article, the company got in touch and prepared a new press release.
When we first saw the news on the Hanergy Glory solar car, we could not help to be skeptical. The company said its vehicle did not require charging in power outlets. It could extract its daily energy needs solely from a solar generation roof. It did not disclose critical technical specifications. Summing up, it had a lot of answers to give. The company got in touch with InsideEVs and solved all our questions. Besides that, Hanergy Glory also issued a press release with the clarifications and new info: It is seeking funding to develop and to produce the solar car.
Hanergy Glory says it needs $25 million to get that going. That is a low amount of money for the automotive industry’s standards. The explanation is that most of the car is ready. It is a modified JoyLong EM3, as we have mentioned in our previous article. That said, the money would just be needed to further develop the solar thin-film applied to the roof and to establish a sales channel for the car.
“Our team will optimize the whole solar solution on the basis of the EM3 model, improve the fitment between our solar power generation system and the roof, enhance the aesthetic design, and ultimately achieve mass production,” said Lu Tao, CEO of Hanergy Glory.
As you may recall, we mentioned the prototype had a very poor integration finishing between the thin-film solution the company presents and the EM3’s roof. Fortunately, that will change in the production car, which will have a different name.
As we have said before, Hanergy Glory will call it Chinese K-Car. The idea comes from the Japanese Kei cars, especially when it comes to its usage. It intends the solar car to drive less than 20 km per day so that it may never have to charge on a power outlet.
According to the company, that is what 60 percent of all Kei car owners do in Japan. These numbers would come from JAMA (Japanese Automobile Manufacturers Association).
The solar thin-film would be able to generate 1.6 kWh of electric energy per day. Which it says is enough for running up to 20 km daily. Not in a regular electric car, but this one is very different from the others.
The K-Car is 3.18 m long, 1.48 m wide, 1.67 m tall, and it has a 2.10 m wheelbase. It weighs around 800 kg and has a battery pack of solely 10 kWh. Or 25 percent of the original battery pack of the EM3. It would be enough for a 120 km range, according to Hanergy Glory. Considering its low weight, we would say it is feasible.
We have contacted Catarc (China Automotive Technology and Research Center). The research center said three pilots that weighed between 65 kg and 70 kg drove the prototype for 30 days. Its test track mixes paved surfaces and unpaved ones.
At the end of the 30-day test period, the car kept 60 percent of charge. Hanergy sent us this picture of the dashboard to show how they could tell the remaining charge.
On the right, there is a scale that goes up to ten. When the battery pack is fully charged, it is all blue. Energy consumption appears in red, from the bottom to the top. In this case, the car had 80 percent of the charge. The left scale is a tachometer.
The last question we had for Hanergy Glory was the huge quantity of websites that published its first press release with no changes. The company says it has nothing to do with that. “Ultimately, it’s media’s decision of how they choose to use the information we share with them,” said Nitin Kapahi, Hanergy Glory’s senior global PR.
The company is confident their car could suit many families’ needs in China. And it has named its system in a similar way to that chosen by Aptera to offer a similar solar generation ability. Instead of Never Charge, Hanergy Glory has called its system Plug-In Never.
Will Chinese clients find that appealing? How much will it cost? We’ll probably hear answers to these new questions very soon.
Hanergy Takes a Notch up in Solar Car Market
-Plans to raise USD 25 mn to fund its Solar Power Vehicles business
-The company claims its Thin Film Solar Vehicle can run without pole charging for at least a consecutive 30 days
Beijing, October 9, 2019 – Hanergy Glory Solar Technology, an EV startup announced today that it plans to raise USD 25 million for 10-20% of its company share to fund its solar car program, including further developing its R&D in solar vehicle power system and establishing sales channels. The announcement is aligned with the company’s robust plan to strengthen its foothold in solar car market. Earlier last month, Hanergy Glory Solar Technology has successfully concluded a one-month test drive of the world’s first commercial solar power vehicle solution, Chinese K-car at China Automotive Technology and Research Center.
During the 30-day trial, at the end of each day after a 20km run, the Chinese K-Car retained 60%-80% of battery charge which means the car could still run a further 30km to 80km in that single day. By August 7th, the last day of the 30-day test drive, despite an 8-day straight overcast or rainy weather, the battery still retained 60% of power, proving another irreplaceable feature of solar thin-film, which is generating power even under low/weak light conditions.
According to Hanergy Glory, the tested solar car was built on the concept of the Japanese K-Car, a category of vehicle that was created to meet basic daily transportation needs. The emergence of China’s middle class is driving the demand for a vehicle that could serve multiple purposes including daily commutes and family trips. By readjusting the backseat, this highly flexible five-seat vehicle can also easily carry a wheelchair. According to statistics by Japanese Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA), in Japan, over 60% of K-car users do not drive more than 400 km a month, which is less than 20 km per day. Such mileage can be met by the solar solutions of this test.
“We summarized some conditions (KWH km/paved area/outdoor scene/20-30km/daily driving range) that solar energy could power the vehicle to the maximum to finally choose the EM3 model of Joylong Automobile and signed a cooperation agreement with them,” said Dr. Lu Tao, CEO of Glory Solar Technology Company.
The size of the JoyLong EM3 is 3180*1480*1670mm and the weight of the car is about 800kg. The EM3 has a large roof area, which means more power generation and more mileage. Therefore, Glory have selected the EM3 version with an internal battery capacity of 10KWh, which when fully charged can travel 120 kilometers. It is equipped with Hanergy solar power generation system, generating 1.6 KWh per day, which is the equivalent to about 20 kilometers of driving range.
“We are on a constant lookout for models that can maximize the solar performance. We hope to get more models to install our unique lightweight thin-film solar solution. Besides, we are currently also looking for partners and investors to develop diverse electric vehicles to increase the solar vehicle portfolio to contribute towards a sustainable world,” Dr. Tao added.
According to Hanergy Glory, it has only tailored its solar system to apply the thin-film solution on EM3, while made some layering improvements on the lower part of the front end. “Next, our team will optimize the whole solar solution on the basis of the EM3 model, improve the fitment between our solar power generation system and the roof, enhance the aesthetic design, and ultimately achieve mass production,” said Dr. Lu Tao.
On September 25th, Hanergy Glory just signed with Zhejiang Tianyou Company a sales contract for 140,000 express delivery cars.
Hanergy Glory Solar Technology Company, an EV startup proposed the concept of “Plug-In Never” as a way to solve common issues faced by owners of more traditional electric vehicles that heavily rely on charging piles scattered within cities. With “Plug-In Never,” Hanergy Glory is making a bold statement and allowing consumers to never have to worry about overcurrent, overvoltage, overheating, and ground faults.
Further, as the automotive industry has been going through a sea of change since the advent of newer technologies that have transformed how vehicles are designed and manufactured, automobile companies are now focusing extensively on the impact of cars that run on solar, and are moving towards renewable sources of energy.