Prius to go (partially) solar
By Ryan Block 
posted July 6th 2008 9:27PM
posted July 6th 2008 9:27PM
posted July 6th 2008 9:27PM
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but you guys still fell for it...so apparently somebody got a jolly out of it.
Wah wah wah, the Prius has a bigger carbon footprint that other cars!
Big deal. The only footprint I care about is the one in my wallet.
its great that everyones concerned with the environment and all but we dont actually KNOW its us thats making the changes, someone will have a go at me for this stating al gore and his carbon dioxide levels vs tempreature bull but ice cores show that the CO2 level goes up after the temperature as its liberated from the sea, im no expert but i think we should put some more effort into confirming this, think did you hear a report on climate change that didnt start with 'scientists believe' not they 'know' or 'have proved'
Ok.... Personally I would rather be safe than sorry... Also if you buy solar panels and a wind turbine, bam never have a power bill again and in fact many places give you money off your taxes as well as getting money for feeding the grid when you aren't using it all... I don't think the Earth is that much different than me, and I know if I lock myself in the garage with the exhaust running in it WILL kill me so why not the Earth?
the reasons for global warming are a tad more complicated than carbon monoxide poisioning
So how do you use AC if there's no sunshine? or.. I guess you don't need it when there's no sunshine.
Congratualtion toyota, u managed to make an ugly car even uglier. They better have a way of making the panels a little more discreet than in engadget's rendering
Dude, everyone should know the moia video by now...
Why is it so hard to get people to spend a little more and make the one place in the universe that's habitable stay that way? The closest star would take 10,000 years to go to so better get on your way. Justin: (not that I disagree) but you say the Prius has a bigger carbon foot print and that you don't care in the same sentence..... Are you a Politician or something?
The European Volkswagen Passat has this as a factory option. Almost a year ago. I don't understand why is this not available here in the USA.
Not gonna happen anytime soon, trust me
Those solar panels will hold up real well in the hail storms here in the Midwest....NOT!
My concern is when you're driving toward toward the solar panels on a sunny day. I've seen houses with solar panels on them with huge glare and I can expect to hear a couple incidents of people getting blinded by this.
Otherwise good concept, one of the biggest gas suckers in a car is the A/C it's logical that it have something like solar panels to help efficiency.
I believe this mod will top-off your batteries...
http://www.solarelectricalvehicles.com/
Ha, this idea was STOLEN from the Aptera.......
Yeah this would help cities with a lot of traffic and sunshine such as Austin, Texas.
did u no that if you stick.your hand uot the window the vehicle will turn
My '92 Mazda had a solar panel sun roof. It used the power for two things - keep the battery charged, and run trunk mounted fans when the car was off to keep it cool. It was fantastic, because i could get in the car after it sat in the blazing Atlanta heat for 8 hours during the day and it was nice and cozy, rather than scorching hot. Too bad the car died last year.
OK..this looks interesting..why would you not send excess power to the batteries..that makes no sense to me.. even if a trickle...any amount would be better than none..and you should be able to override the internal circulation.. would be good if there was small heater in the radiator for us in colder climates...there are some very cold clear days it would be nice to have 'INSTANT' heat from the heater!
Uh, why not power the battery instead?
Let's say you drive 45 minutes each way to work. The solar panels would be helping out for 90 minutes a day, only in warmer weather. If the solar energy went to charge the battery instead...and if you park the car outside...you get about 12 hours of light, or 720 minutes per day of useful charging. Instead of 90. The solar panels would generate 8-times the energy if they went into the battery instead of the AC. I live in PA, I probably only use AC for 4 months of the year, so there's another factor of 3.
This solar panel seems like a dumb and expensive idea if implemented the way it's reported.
at highway speeds, dropping the windows can create more air resistance and hence lower fuel mileage than the impact of running the a/c compressor.
also, you might want to read up on how toyota designed the a/c SYSTEM, not just the electrically-driven compressor, to maximize efficiency.
next, the compressor does not run off the 12 battery; like the power steering pump, it runs off the high-voltage battery.
as for "ugly" fuel-efficient cars, "that's in the mind of the beholder" and that probably says it all... :))))))))
and where the heck can you find a $40k Prius?!?!?!? they usually max out around 30! i paid more than that for my '04 because it had FULL leather at a rip-off price. if i'd wanted to wait and get it done elsewhere, i could have saved a few thou... but at the time i had the money and wanted the car.
so far, it averages 44 mpg around Raleigh, NC, with all the hills, --- and humidity.... :) and the climate controls are always on and the windows are always closed. flat, level 45 mph lets it do upwards of 55 mpg.
http://www.plusaf.com/prius/prius.htm
I simply wanted to point out that the reason for the prius is going solar isn't to make a better car but to make you feel warm and fuzzy about buying a solar car from them. The solar cells that they are using are some of the most in-efficient. There is thin film tech. that is being developted in Mass. and CA right now that blows the Kyocera cells away. There cells are only 16% efficient and there are cells right now that achieve a 95+% efficiency. All of that aside we haven't even addressed the software work-arounds that are put in place to do things like prohibit the car from running at speeds above 33 mph on electric alone.