Flywheel energy storage vehicles?

I intend on perusing a small project that involves stripping and converting my old 2004 Honda civic into an electric car. An electric car that will also be completely plastered in flexible solar panels. I hope to produce a car that get me around locally, nothing really long distance tbh.

But i'm not sure what would be the best form of energy storage?

Traditional battery's or flywheels? Or even a mixture?

I know flywheels will be considerably more of a challenge but i have always liked them as a type of energy storage.

Basically what i'm asking is that is it a good idea to even attempt to put a flywheel into a car.
Is the efficiency good compared to battery's?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Flywheels are an interesting idea. Two negatives often cited are the gyroscopic effect could be countered by flywheels rotating in opposite directions and the need for shielding in case of failure. Shielding is often obviated by the use of composit flywheels that essentially disintegrate to dust upon failure.

But you will find that they will not give you the energy density that is available in Lithium Batteries. They have been used for F1 cars. In this case the demand is typically for a short burst of additional power measured in seconds and not a long term sustained push for distance. In this way flywheels are more like capacitors than batteries for energy storage.

Higher quality flywheels will usually involve carbon fiber wheels rotating in a vacuum supported my magnetic bearings. This is not likely something you will throw together at home.

Commercial cars are too heavy and not sufficiently aerodynamic to make good use of solar panels. Solar racers are very lightweight, have a large flat top surface and present a very small frontal area. I have calculated that a Nissan Leaf covered in Solar panels has sufficient energy from the sun to travel about 2 to 4 miles per hour. But it could add something to the range of a vehicle that mostly sits in bright sunlight and is run for only a short time each day. NYC parks have effectively used solar panels on some parks vehicles. Stationary solar panels are more efficient because they tend to be aimed optimally for the location and environment. They may even use heliostats to track the sun.

You might be better advised to start with a lighter vehicle. I would suggest a pre-made velomobile or a recumbent bicycle with a custom shell similar to solar cars. It might be interesting to add a KERS system to a velomobile similar to what might be found in formula 1 cars. NYC park vehicle using solar panels are very light people movers.

I want to voice my reservation about the use of flywheel for energy storage on a car. Clearly, that flywheel is going to be massive with big inertia. I need not repeat the danger already outlined by one responder, but the gyroscopic effect of that flywheel is going to play hell with handling of the car on the road. The flywheel should be out of consideration.

Flywheels can store 100-130 W.h/kg, while lithium ion batteries can store 100 - 265 W.h/kg. So for a vehicle, you are better off using lithium ion batteries. Flywheels are also complicated and dangerous. In a traffic accident, your flywheel could easily escape and kill somebody a mile down the road!

Solar power can't run a production car, you have to build an ultra-ligthweight high efficiency vehicle. You need to do some calculations based on solar cell output, mass of vehicle, rolling friction and drag. Figure how far and how fast you can go under various conditions.

It's been done. In F1 race cars, I believe. And years ago in Swiss buses.

You won't get enough power from solar panels to run a Honda Civic. It may just not be worth it, unless you plan to drive across the country stopping a lot to recharge in the sun when there aren't any electric outlets. In which case a small trailer loaded with flat panels might be better.

But hey, go for it. We need innovators. Do a few sums before you spend too much.