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.
My thought too, but then I thought of the incredible success on roof panels and thought it probably doesn’t affect it.
It was okay until the cat landed—RIP.
Cat?
Cat on a hot solar panel/tin roof? :)
Reminds me, do you know why Mexicans wouldn’t buy the Chevy Nova when it came out?
Because “no va” means “won’t go” in espanol.
Seriously.
Building ugly cars has become a corporate priority for Toyota, so this fits right in.
So why not add folding solar panels like they have on satellites to increase the surface area? And don’t forget the dashboard and seats. They get plenty hot, so that energy can be used too.
I see the back window is covered. Why not eliminate all the windows to get a few miles more range? In a few years, all cars will be self drivers, so windows won’t matter and even today many drivers drive as if they are blind anyway.
People claim that they get ~40 mpg in a Prius @ 80 mph [Interstate speed in some States].
A gallon of gas has 33.41 kWh per gallon, so that’s 66.8 kWh to go 80 mi. on the highway. Of course an IC engine is not 100% efficient. At 25% efficiency that’s 16.7 kWh to go 80 mi.
The solar array on this car gets as much as 0.8 kW over 10 hr. That’s 8 kWh so you get to go ~40 mi. out on the highway.
That’s a half hour of driving on a 10 hr. full sun day. So it’s not really close to being able to keep up with actual vehicle energy use.
Now that’s fugly.
Previous model Prii had an option for solar cells near the sunroof that ran an air circulation fan to keep the interior temp. down during hot/sunny days. This is the “Turbo” version I guess...should add to the MPG’s significantly. Too bad they can’t add color to the silicon in the cells to match the paint.
You could put solar panels into an urban sombrero!
Get back to me when they do this with wind turbines.
11"x18" solar cell decals! Buy as many as can fit on your existing vehicle! Impress your social circle with your hard core commitment to save the ERF! Ride with pride in your Yugo.
Paul Shanklin parody on the Rush Limbaugh show
In a Yugo - A liberal guy n gal buy a Yugo (Song to the tune of Elvis’ ‘In the Ghetto’)
2:43 min
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pz2eCFoafXk&list=PLEAA82DCEC7017AD6&index=2
LOL!
Charge on the move? A theoretically perfect electric motor is 660 watts per horsepower. So if you can get that car to move with less than a half a horse power you might break even.
Put in a paltry 50 hp motor and you park for a week or two to make a one way trip to the store, provided it’s a couple blocks away.
One hell of an expensive marketing accessory for customers who do not understand the realities of electric vehicles physics.
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