Good spot. The exact wording in mine is "In the following cases, charging the hybrid battery (traction battery) via the solar charging system is not performed. [...] The hybrid battery (traction battery) is completely discharged", which could mean just zero EV or significantly lower. Sounds to me like this could be the root cause, given the report that no miles have been added at all for months. @maiki - have you been at zero range for all those months? Scanning the thread, just noticed this post from @ATalkingRock , also complaining of no range increase, who then came back with Possibly the same thing - not charging because empty battery? Not charging when empty is extremely counter-intuitive - I can see this being the cause of a lot of user confusion. But it makes sense for two reasons: Not having to cope with either low or high extremes of the battery simplifies the work of the solar charging system, so it's a reasonable design shortcut for an auxiliary charge function. It's a fail safe in case the solar system ends up not generating enough power and ends up being a net drain. There must be a battery threshold below which the solar system won't activate the HV system to ensure it can't accidentally let the charge drift too low.
When he posts his Wh screen for solar, this discussion will end. If he did that in his original post, we would never have had this discussion.
Absolutely true. I agree. It's stated exactly the same in the OP's 2025 model year owner's manual too. I chose to interpret an Owner's Manual meaning of "completely discharged" to mean zero EV miles. Only to offer reasons that are in the manual that might not be as obvious like the one about no luggage on the roof and avoid those two words they used there. It might be wrong but I did give it thought before stating it as zero EV miles only because my logic went to seeing 0% SOC as truly "completely discharged" and to me that's a catastrophic failure ... the kind Toyota would have to resolve. I always appreciate your thoughtful comments here ... thanks.
I'm sure it doesn't mean literally 0% SoC, but it could mean bottom of the battery gauge, at the bottom of the HV range. But like you I'm going to guess it probably is the EV/HV threshold.
The EV range on the guess-o-meter means zero, pun-intended. It will vary if you turn the A/C on or off or press the accelerator hard etc. It is not a direct indicator of kWh stored in the battery. You guys are wasting your time on a wild-goose chase. Let the OP post his solar display, and then we'll respond. Till then, let's take a break.
That's reassuring, though. Means it's a better indicator of kWh stored in the battery than it would be if it didn't vary with how many kWh/mile you're currently drawing.
Yes, but that is not what we are discussing. We are discussing if the OP is getting solar power or not. He thinks there is a malfunction, and he is getting zero solar power. Once again, let the OP post his solar display showing the solar energy generated in Wh.
I've long had an Ancel BM300 Pro monitoring my 12-volt battery so to satisfy your interest in knowing I'll share this chart of a short trip I made yesterday to a sunny location. '24 Prime w Solar and original lead-acid battery (18-months old) You'll see resting at 12.24v (65% SoC) well before trip. Driving to and from the destination (~24 min each way) the battery was receiving 14.28v (100% SoC). And between those two "towers" of driving you'll see the active solar assist going on for the 52 minutes or so I had the car off and in the sun which provided 12.55v-12.61v (>90% SoC). And finally after returning back to my garage and giving ample time to rest the battery settled into a 12.43v (>80% SoC).
I don’t understand why it is so low, though. 12.55 V is below the open-circuit voltage of a fully charged flooded cell (12.64 V) and well below that of an AGM cell (12.89 V).
Since OP appears skeptical of the display that shows the actual energy generated by the solar panels, would the doctor prius app be useful to help confirm the solar panels are working as intended? For my 4th gen Prius Prime it shows the % state of charge to the nearest 0.01% as opposed to the nearest 1% on the car's dash. Maybe the solar panels won't add anything to the traction battery's % state of charge during the worst months, but if it adds anything, it might display on the Dr. Prius App, even when it is not a big enough change to add a full 1% or mile to the traction battery. This might help OP notice whether it is working a couple months earlier than otherwise. This thread has been very informative for me. I was really annoyed that Toyota only offered the solar panel option for the higher end trim with the bigger wheels. I think smaller wheels will save more energy than the solar panels can generate. Now I want the solar panels even less. It also shows how questionable Aptera's claims of "up to 40 miles a day of solar charging" is. That's assuming they can actually produce a vehicle to sell, which is doubtful.
Dig into their site, and the 40 miles is based on sunny location with max solar option. More importantly is the efficiency boost. Go twice as far per kWh, and you only need to capture the half the solar energy for the same range.
Their panel is more than 3x that of Toyota's (200W vs their 700W), plus a much lighter, smaller vehicle. It's been reported that the Toyota panel only outputs 180W on a sunny summer day; requiring a kilowatt hour to get you 4 miles down the road. Toyota stated that there was nothing wrong with the panel and it was collecting power, just not enough to move the traction pack mileage counter. Doing simple, back of a napkin math, should've told you that panel was gimmicky and wouldn't pay for itself over the service lifetime of that car - even under the most egregious assumptions.
Still wouldn't count on solar for charging an Aptera in my winters. The gen4&5 solar panel was offered to alleviate the charging conditions in Japan. Home charging is less available there, and likely slower when it is. Plus gas also costs more there. Some of that applies to Europe. Even then, the solar panel wasn't intended to be the sole charging source. It was assumed most would come from type of plug.
When the glass cracks? Pretty much the same as any other car with a glass roof. You file a comprehensive claim, get it replaced and get on with life.
Hopefully you carry collision and comprehensive insurance. Some insurance companies may just TOTAL out the car because it's too expensive to replace. I don't bother and assume the risk myself - which is a problem when renting cars during vacation.
I'm already renting 20-30 cars a year for work plus a couple more for vacations here and there. I added some "un-owned coverage" to my regular insurance. Might have pushed my premium up $12/year? Anyway it now makes sense for me to maintain full coverage- and to that end, there's some sense in not keeping our cars to the bitter end.
