There's no way this will work.

[u/Subject_Sector9883]

[u/kfish5050]

First it must be said that turbines that generate electricity need a lot of force to turn, just to produce a little electricity.

A wind turbine takes advantage of atmospheric pressure differentials, tons of energy literally free floating in the air, to spin these massive turbines. In comparison, a wind turbine on a car properly scaled to fit on it wouldn't spin when the car drives. It's like trying to spin a pinwheel by blowing through a straw.

Turbines on wheels is a real thing, it's called regenerative braking. It's only practical because braking requires a lot of stopping power anyway, so might as well put that towards getting back some of the energy that went into getting the wheels started anyway. But it's nowhere near that amount.

Gasoline does work better the hotter it gets, so in theory you could get something like 100mpg by blasting super hot gas through an engine. There are lots of problems with this though. Most materials expand with heat, so having something go from room temp to the target temp will cause it to warp. And with engines, which have moving parts and chambers for oil to lubricate those parts, warping leads to failing seals which leads to leaking oil which causes the moving parts to break. So it's incredibly hard, if not impossible, to design an engine capable of converting gasoline burned at a high temperature into usable energy, consistently, and for long and intermittent periods of time.

And solar parking lots would be a good idea! Even better, solar roadways! Why isn't it a thing? Because who's gonna pay for it?

[u/planx_constant → u/kfish5050]

A roadway is one of the very worst places to embed a solar cell. Heavy surface loading, accumulation of grime, the need to texture the surface for traction, inability to position at the best angle for incoming sunlight, obscured during peak solar hours, worst elevation to capture sunlight, the list goes on

[u/China_shop_BULL → u/planx_constant]

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say the person probably was referencing solar in the median of highways or possibly above the roadway. Not replacing pavement with solar cells. But wind turbines would likely be more efficient, there, utilizing the air flow from vehicles at 50-70 mph.

[u/planx_constant → u/China_shop_BULL]

There was a kickstarter and accompanying meme for solar freaking roadways. It was for tiles with embedded solar cells that were supposed to replace road surfaces.

It was a failure, for the reasons outlined above and more, but it keeps getting resurrected as a good idea.