Add Solar Power To Your Electric Scooter With This Kit!

The Motosola solar charging canopy is designed to be compatible with any electric scooter

• The kit comprises of a windshield, bracings and a solar panel up top
• It is claimed to charge up to 1.5kWh per day.
• Two variants available: 100W and 150W.

Electric vehicles are often heavily dependent on charging infrastructure. Electric startup Motosola offers a unique solar charging canopy which is designed to fit onto any electric scooter. The kit essentially comprises of a windshield, support structure and a solar charging panel up top. There are two variants available: 100W and 150W. Motosola claims the kit can charge your scooter up to 1.5kWh per day on sunlight!

Take the Ather 450 for example. It comes with a 2.4kWh lithium-ion battery pack, and with this kit, you should theoretically be able to recover half the charge if the scooter is under sunlight for about 24 hours. That’s a pretty impressive claim but what remains to be seen is how much the canopy will affect the aerodynamic efficiency of the scooter. Having a large windshield will require greater energy because of air resistance. But Motosola says it is designed for scooters with a top speed of 45 - 55kmph only, so the negative impact on its aerodynamics shouldn’t be that significant. Even though it’s a plug and play kit, one might have to make modifications to the battery compartment to allow cables to connect with the battery terminals. 

For even more direct contact to sunlight, the company offers tilting panels which should be ideal when parked for long. Motosola hasn’t revealed the price of the kit yet but says it is less than the cost of a replacement battery. 

A lot of scooters in certain Indian cities use canopies to protect the rider from rain. If Motosola introduces the solar charging kit in India, it should greatly improve electric scooters’ usability and range considering most parts of India get ample sunlight.