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Car solar charging

Posted by geoff the bonnie <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=geoff+the+bonnie' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on September 24, 2025, 10:33 pm

I installed my solar panel and charge controller in the car Today as my brand new battery is, again, very low. Toyota say i should drive 60 mile every other day which is ridiculous. Neighbour walking past and his brand new Ford Kuga has a flat battery. The ford is actually a Toyota with a Ford Kuga body. All the mechanicals and electricals are Toyota Rav 4 parts. He now needs a new battery and has been told to go 30 miles to a garage and collect a coutesy car befor it expires. I told him that he will need quite a few new batteries in the next few years. I have had 2 in unde 2 years and the 3 week old battery is beginning to fail.
The car first shuts down the interior lights then the passenger door cannot be opened but then it give a message the battery is at 26 percent charge, contact dealer just as mine does.
In a few days i will check charge level after fitting the solar panel and see if the charge has improved. This is a major failure of Toyota hybrids but they will not recall them. The car has to be reprogrammed after a flat battery. The Ford battery replacement takes 2 days in the garage.
I told Toyota that this car will break down every time i holiday and the answer is to call the breakdown service or fit a solar panel.
I expect to lose a lot of money on this car but the Kuga owners car will be worthless once people realise it will need a new battery every year at least.
My breakdown service is already arranged for my holiday return and the van will be in the car park waiting. That van says he is there to start about 20 Toyotas parked up for the return from the cruise. I have also wired in some jumper cables from the boot battery to inside the car as i cannot open the boot when the battery is flat.
I have found that Toyota has fitted a jump starter point inside one of the fuse boxes but that is not listed in the manual and has a small cover over it so no one notices except the breakdown service.
The RAC has recorded that the car cannot charge the battery unless i do 60 mile every other day. This allows them to not turn up for a repeat breakdown for the same fault.
What began as a good idea is now a liability so next year, i will have a petrol car and not a hybrid. Volvo get around this problem by having one battery for electrical and another battery for starting only. The last 2 Volvos were fault free so i may buy another but the smallest one they make is an XC40 large car that i do not need but may have to have to get over breakdowns. The second battery is located in a compartment behind the front lights . next year, when buying a car, i will look at its batteries before buying. New cars are becoming crap now. My boys have to buy oldish cars and have less problems although a 15 year old Mercedes tends to get a lot of sensor faults. The diesel Mondeos dont have many problems though. One boy has a 16 year old Honda Civic and can drive it anywhere and its at 200,000 miles so far.
Stay clear of any Toyota hybrid or Ford car that is Toyota based. I am now waiting to see the constant failures this new Kuga is about to have next door

Re: Car solar charging

Posted by Leon Novello <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=Leon+Novello' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on September 25, 2025, 1:54 am, in reply to "Car solar charging"

Geoff, the problem is you are using electricity from the Sun; your car battery is designed for electricity from coal.

Leon Novello

Re: Car solar charging

Posted by Andy C <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=Andy+C' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on September 25, 2025, 6:36 am, in reply to "Re: Car solar charging"

Good one Leon

Who needs a signature anyway......

Re: Car solar charging

Posted by Lannis <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=Lannis' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on September 25, 2025, 2:06 am, in reply to "Car solar charging"

Only a brainwashed idiot would buy a battery powered electric or hybrid vehicle.

I should thank them, though, for saving the world from destruction. The ocean was almost 3 stories up the Empire State Building before they stopped it.

Lannis

Do you remember, before the Internet, when people thought the cause of stupidity was lack of access to information?

Yeah, it wasn't that.

Re: Car solar charging

I really could not put up with all that grief, my next car will be another IC engined one.

Who needs a signature anyway......

Re: Car solar charging

Posted by calidavid <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=calidavid' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on September 25, 2025, 7:11 am, in reply to "Re: Car solar charging"

With you there, Andy. I have a petrol 2016 Suzuki Vitara and was looking to exchange for the most recent model before the EVs take over. 2017, as far as I can establish, and then onwards hybrids etc. So I won’t be doing that.

Re: Car solar charging

I have had a look around for a new car but not until next year.
The mpg is brilliant but the caost is higher than running a large engined volvo at 36 mpg due to the trade in loss which will be in excess of 20k. The Volvo lost about 16k but was a more expensive car.
I notice Mazda seem to be ignoring the battery idea a bit and just running petrol engines.
I tried the planet saving car and then see King Charles having the red arrows fly over for his Birthday along with using V8 engined cars for his travel.
With the modern car, its hard to imagine that changing a 12 volt battery requires the car to be linked to a computer to code the battery to match the car. You cannot fit it yourself.
I am quietly waiting to see how that Ford Kuga fairs now as he is about to go on holiday to Holland. Another mate with a Hyundai hybrid had battery failure in Spain. They could not work on it so it was transported back to the UK.
I use my car about 5 times a week and this week did an 80 mile run. Today it will be 65 miles but the car just cannot keep the battery charged enough to work its electronic brain when it sits parked.

Re: Car solar charging

I strayed into a tv channel the other night, Geoff, showing how the Bentley restoration company has been researching into bio fuels made from waste products for many years and they seem to be able to run any of their cars from the year dot on it.

Re: Car solar charging

Interesting David. Most new car manufacturers say not to use the bio fuels or the warranty is voided.
I notice McDonalds say they run their fleet on old cooking oil without problems. Locally, one young scaffolder runs an old Peugeot on cooking oil straight from the chip shop without processing it.
Myself, i ran a Peugeot for 12 years on nothing but gas oil. It actually went a bit faster than a normal pump diesel fuel.

Re: Car solar charging

The Bentley garage showed their fuel testing area where they had a row of test tubes containing rubber, cork, leather etc.etc.in their bio fuel made to see if there was any reaction. None after many years. But I guess the fuel is expensive.

Re: Car solar charging

Petrol is now low cost compared with 50 years ago given my 1300cc cars would do 30 mpg and now 2 litre cars give 65mpg.
2 of the boys running large V8 cars get over 30mpg driven sensibly. Going on our trip to Cornwall last week, the V8 Jaguar 4.2 was returning 35 mpg at around 70 mph. Lovely car that one with about 1400 rpm showing at 70 mph
I have tried 3 cylinder petrol cars which have become common on new cars now but immediately notice more noise and vibration. The new Lexus car of the year 2025 i tried was very noisy and gruff with a 3 cylinder 1.5. Looks like i will go for a 4 cylinder again

Re: Car solar charging

Posted by JERRY <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=JERRY' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on September 25, 2025, 10:32 am, in reply to "Re: Car solar charging"

They are testing bio fuel in world MotoGP in the moto2 class that use Triumph engines.

The oldest rocker in town!

you have a stupid car

Posted by the old one <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=the+old+one' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on September 25, 2025, 2:54 pm, in reply to "Car solar charging"

if I owned that car , after 1st battery change , I would kick off , after 2 I would be annoyed , at 3rd battery the car would be returned ,
I suspect the fault is in YOUR car , and not all cars in the range no battery can recover from being discharged down to 26% , its knackered , dead , deceased at 26%
those cars are parked on runways and garage parking for months before sold , you are telling me that EVERY car needs battery charging/replacing after 2 weeks of non use
if the battery is going flat in such a short time , then that is one hell of a discharge , and a temu trickle solar thing is not going to help , discharge will be 5+ times greater than the solar thing can charge,
on a lighter note , after 2 weeks in hospital , and effectively asked not to drive for 4 weeks (angioplasty) , my 8 yr old petrol guzzling rattly crude 3 cyl 1200cc french car simply fired up and ran this morning

rattly and crude , not really , I can afford a new one if I want , but dont see point in playing at willy waving whilst driving a chinease brand car

Re: you have a stupid car

Posted by 6TDen <iframe src='https://members5.boardhost.com/classicbikemart/info/user=6TDen' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on September 25, 2025, 3:07 pm, in reply to "you have a stupid car"

You wave it out of the window whilst driving? Respect man.
Den

Re: you have a stupid car

If you watch thew people returning to Southampton port terminal. You will see at least 20 Toyota hybrids waiting for the starting van to get to their car. I have had a word or two with the Toyota dealer and he admits the battery is too small. The RAC engineer has written down the car needs to be run every other day just to keep the battery working. He attends to a lot of these Toyotas and carries the Toyota device to code the battery to the cars.
I am waiting to see if this fails again then i will start some legal work as i did with a Motorcycle seller this year in Exeter Court. I doubt Toyota will allow this to go ahead in open court. Should be interesting but short term, i will now be able to get around this flat battery. I have added some equipment now and testing the charge of the solar panel. I am using a 10 watt panel and i expect it will be 20% efficient so should just maintain the charge being drawn for the alarm system. Toyota have admitted the battery is too small and i now have a larger one for free.
Toyota must be getting embarrassed by all the breakdowns.
It is not possible to return a car bought new after nearly 2 years of ownership. Rejecting a vehicle is normally a 30 day window for a full refund. The dealer has to be allowed to attempt repairs.
When BMW were messing around with a 13 month old car with faults, eventually it was taken to a better dealer on instruction of BMW and fixed right away. The Exeter main dealer had also charged BMW 500 pound to fit a replacement radio but had not fitted one. Naughty boys. I had marked the original and noted its date code.
Still waiting to see my Neighbours Ford fail very soon.

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