Mercedes-Benz’s solar paint could solve EV charging

Mercedes-Benz is developing solar paint for its future EVs that could provide enough energy for up to 12,000km of range a year, with researchers predicting the tech to be just five-to-10 years away from production.

The German marque began serious experimenting with the solar paint, dubbed photovoltaic surfaces, on the 2022 Vision EQXX concept and soon discovered the potential for mass-production.

Upscaling the 1.8-square-metre surface on the concept that was used on the roof and the bonnet, Benz R&D engineers decided to coat an entire car with its new solar paint and were blown away by the findings.

By scaling the surface area up to around 11m2 – coating both the fenders, doors and boot lid – researchers found that prototypes in Stuttgart produced enough energy to cover an average of 32km daily for 12 months, with the mules’ paint producing far more electric energy in summer months.

That equates to around 60 per cent of the average German’s daily commute on free energy alone.

In LA, the findings were even more revealing with up to 47km of range, on average, generated by solar each day.

Engineers involved in the project expect the daily average to be even higher in Australia, with early predictions pointing to an average range of 55km a day – more than enough to warrant never manually recharging again in the context of commuting.

Perhaps more amazing, the new paint could even end up powering homes thanks to future Benz’s bidirectional charging.

Scientists developing the tech claim the solar paint will be available in any colour when it eventually comes to market, however dark colours perform the best.

The 5mm thick layer is also protected by at least two protective lacquer finishes, to ensure it isn’t damaged in daily use.

Better still, the solar paint uses no rare earth metals or silicon and is non-toxic, made of readily available materials that are easy to recycle and considerably cheaper than existing solar cells.

The only major drawback of the tech is rolling it out.

Engineers admit that no current vehicle architecture (including the all-new MMA platform primed for the next-generation CLA) can incorporate the new solar paint.

That oversight is because no engineer ever imagined the solar paint to be so efficient or capable of transforming the sun's rays into energy you can drive to work on.

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