Posted on 07/07/2019 7:09:46 PM PDT by ETL
What's not to like about this concept: high-efficiency solar cells gifting electric cars with mileage.
Bertel Schmitt, The Drive, said, "The solar roof could morph from mostly a marketing-device to a helpful feature."
He noted that, referring to plug-ins, "On a fair-weather day, the juice would be provided by the sun, a big improvement especially for people who don't have their own garage."
Toyota has ambitions over the concept and is to start testing an onboard solar recharging system where the hood, the roof, and back are covered with cells.
The solar roof can charge while the car is on the move.
It did not escape Interesting Engineering's notice that the new solar battery cell can fit a larger surface.
"The solar battery cell is a thin film about 0.03 mm thick.
Because it is so thin, it can fit the curves of the vehicle including the roof, hood, and rear hatch door," said the report.
Darrell Etherington, TechCrunch, said at center stage was the new and improved version of the solar power cells previously launched on the Japan-exclusive Prius PHV.
The Toyota news release said "the demo car employs a system that charges the driving battery while the vehicle is parked and also while it's being driven."
This was seen as an interesting development expected to lead to improvements in the electric car's cruising range and fuel efficiency.
"Previously, the Prius PHV charged the driving battery only while the vehicle was parked.
However, with improvements in power generation output, the demo car employs a system that charges while the vehicle is being driven.
This is expected to boost the BEV-mode cruising range and fuel efficiency significantly," said Toyota.
Big deal.
Lots of cars have sunroofs.
Bird poop magnet.
I bet that car is smaller than my polaris ranger
Reminds me of what they used to call birth control glasses.
Cool! Good idea.
Bah.
Cars generate wind when they’re in operation. Just put a wind turbine on ‘em...
There is no reason in the world for FReepers to disparage what might be a viable energy source.
Will acidic bird crap eat through the top layer
I am all for a free market private car company making this car a buyable option for those that want it.
How the heck should I know?
Not that new of an idea! Mazda put a solar roof panel on it’s 929 in 1992 to run an AC or charge the battery.
Not enough surface area to generate any significant energy compared to typical vehicle use.
It’d be fine if I only used the car to get my mail at the end of the driveway.
Why not wind-up cars ,LOL
With a super efficient new type of solar cells (34% efficient), they estimate:
“The new system will provide up to 44.5 km (27.7 miles) of additional range per day while parked and soaking up sun, and can add up to 56.3 km (35 miles) of power to both the driving system and the auxiliary power battery on board, which runs the AC, navigation and more.”
So if you have a short commute to work, you might conceivably continue to go there out of force of habit, for up to ten years after a Mad Max type of societal collapse, which dries up fuel supplies.
Or they could make some ultralight go carts for urban short trips, that could use that amount of power as their primary fuel, with a plug-in secondary - maybe just a regular 110v plug.
For an electric car this would seem to be a no brainer. I always thought a solar panel covered carport would be a way to passively recharge an electric car. My money is on hydrogen fuel cells. But the hangup for that, once again is cost and infrastructure. Hydrogen fuel cell cars already have a range similar to gasoline vehicles, and refueling them is no more difficult than a gas car.
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