4th generation coming 2015!

Guys, some of you guys laughed and said it was "Impossible" to consider solar charging the battery pack of PiP to help those who park outside in the sun during the work days.

Well, a major automaker has decided to pursue that path: Ford's C-MAX Solar Energi Concept is powered by a roof panel, rolls to CES next week


Now how long is it off by? They are unveiling it this year, so maybe a couple years at least? I know Toyota was researching wireless charging, but damn, if we can get solar trickling charging...wow.

Of course there's added weight of panels etc, but didn't they make super light flexible solar panels a couple years back?

 

It's a concept, man. EXTREMELY different than bringing anything like this to mass market.

And they make no estimations of how much range that is good for everyday. What would be your guess?

 

Yes, the flexible solar PV has been made for years. The issue with it is it is even lower efficiency than the 'old fashioned' rigid panels.

Trickle charging can be done now, and some cars do use it, including the PiP as I recall.
It is just that the trickle is just that, a trickle.

Concept cars have been shown for years with things like cameras in place of side mirrors. They never make it to production, for good reasons.
If Ford found a way to collect enough solar energy, at a bad angle (vehicle roof) at that, to propel a vehicle any appreciable distance, they should go into producing solar panels, they could make a mint.

 

Twenty-five years ago I administered a very large hot-water (HW) solar system on a large federal facility. The total cost was paid by the DOE as a Federal solar demonstration project. The life cycle cost was 35 years.

Imagine my surprise this summer when I visited the facility for the first time since leaving, and learned the entire system had been recently removed and scrapped.

I recognize there are major differences between HW system and electrical systems, but based on the classes that I took, I recall maps of the US depicting a very limited area favorable for solar.

We studied electrical systems, and the parabolic systems that concentrate the solar, and track the sun across the sky were the most promising. I cannot see how such systems would have any application on an automobile. In addition, college engineering competitions to develop a solar car require enormous panel atop the vehicle; likewise airplanes, where the wings are covered with collectors.

I favor technology, but I have my doubts we are there. (My expertise is 25 years old)

 

That cannot be the reason. All it takes to essentially eliminate any wire current magnetic field is to run the return wire with the supply wire. To get even less, you can twist and shield the wires, but that is way beyond needed. Even without doing that, there are no health standards anywhere close to being violated. I engineer power wiring for aircraft, so I'm not just a throwing out an opinion. Obviously Toyota has a reason for their decisions, but the residual magnetic fields from a power wire would not be it, especially when even that can be eliminated fairly trivially.

 

The idea of a solar collector on the roof sounds to me like something the Public Relations Department dreamed up, and the engineers found an application for the idea. I see very little value in either a trickle charger or a fan.

It would be interesting to know what percentage of Prius were delivered with the solar option?

Change of subject:
I was driving in the mountains yesterday, and I thought of something that I would like to see incorporated in the Prius. I'd like a method to enable the car to find the "sweet spot"on it's own.
Driving in the mountains, the ICE charges the HV battery going up hill, and the momentum charges it going down. Consequently, the HV battery becomes fully charged with a long downhill ahead. I try to put just a minute amount of pressure on the accelaerator to keep the charge/discharge at neutral (the "Sweet Spot") Hypermilers always seek that "sweet spot" as well.
Wouldn't it be great if you could press a button, and the vehicle would automatically find that spot without input from the driver?

 

I think another reason could be the difference in capacity between a solar panel of decent size and the hybrid battery itself and add to that the variance in intensity of sunlight between seasons, geography, etc. all of which means the experience and benefit would vary considerably from one region to the other.

BTW if you have ever lived in a country where 30/40 degrees centrigade is the norm throught the year and you park the car in sunlight (with shutters closed ) for (say) 2 hours, you would know that the cabin temperature shoots up thorugh the roof in no time and will remain so for a good 15 mins while you drive away with Aircon on full power. What the fan assisted ventilation would do is slow down & maintain this cabin temperature rise to more acceptable levels. It may appear a bit over-the-top to have a solar panel spinning a fan but I just mentioned this because in a way, there is a certain method to the madness so to speak.

Not that it matters to me as I live in Scotland where is it cloudy 3/4 of the year so very little benefit from a solar panel

 

IF...we were talking Gen III Body, but Li-iON couldn't they theoretically have a GenIV lighter engine, lighter battery pack, bit more space, put in solar panels for trickle charging because cars may be parked for an hour to 2 (or 4 on average) depending where a person is, and wouldn't MPG be increased to almost PiP levels? Yes the capacities won't be the same, BUT you could have a full mile from a full charge in the sun for maybe 3 hours. AND, if you're driving and it's sunny you get the trickle charge too, much like the charge you get when you break and rolling...

 

This hydrogen car is really, really heading here pretty soon, guys. It's quite interesting to see Toyota heading this way after all of this investment in the PlugIns & EVs. Well, "pretty soon" is a relative term in regard to time, but wow. Just wow. Any thoughts?

 

i don't even buy green banana's anymore.

 

It is good to have low emission (well-to-wheel) vehicles using multiple fuel sources.

HSD hybrid technology is in either a regular, plugin or fuel cell. That's the beauty and the vision Toyota had when they came up with the first Prius. Their dream is coming true.

On the road map to the "ultimate eco-cars", one of them is a diesel hybrid. I wonder when that will become available. With many government around the world squeezing down on the emission requirement, we may not see it until there is a breakthrough in diesel emission.

CNG hybrids are on the map as well. I wonder when that's coming.

 

It seems to me they are spreading themselves too thin. If they really are putting this into production I would be even more surprised for any major gains in the next Prius considering how many R&D dollars had to go into a fuel cell vehicle.

Just seems like a bad strategy to continually make these new vehicles that they can only sell in a few places.

But then again, I'm biased against hydrogen. Why create a new infrastructure that will cost billions to make when there is a ready made one in every home and business in America?

 

If they (Toyota) go hydrogen and give up on EV, I'd be swapping to Nissan Leaf or Tesla Model E when I go to replace my Prius.

If they (Toyota) go hydrogen and continue developing PHEV, EV, or regular hybrid I'll keep Toyota in my list for consideration but I'll still be looking to go pure EV or PHEV over regular hybrid.

I'll take any of those three over fuel cell unless you can convince me that fuel cell vehicles are more reliable than pure EV and cheaper to run by at least a factor of 2.

Pure EV allows me to fuel up at home, I don't want to have to visit a fueling station on the road to find hydrogen.

 

Toyota outlines hydrogen fuel cell ambitions | CNET TV | Video Product Reviews, CNET Podcasts, Tech Shows, Live CNET Video

Battery EVs can't do that!
Fuel Cell Vehicle | TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION GLOBAL WEBSITE

 

No but if I want home power backup I can use Tesla/Solarcity power backup



Home Energy Storage & Battery Backup System - SolarCity



No need to go anywhere to fuel up, let a few solar panels do the charging of the batteries and then I don't have to haul hydrogen around with me everywhere I drive and I don't have to charge anywhere but at home if I so choose.

Or, heaven forbid, I could go without home backup power since I've not had a power outage that has lasted more than a few minutes within the last 10 years. (I do have small UPSs sprinkled around the house for electronics but no backup power to cover refrigerator, heat, AC, hot water). And after all that I still might end up with a grid tied solar EV system on the roof with no off grid capability.

Still if the cost of such a system were low enough I'd consider it but either way hydrogen car or batteries from Tesla/solarcity I'm not going to spend a lot of money on a power backup system.

My current budget for battery backup is under $10/year (buy a new UPS when needed, new 12v batteries for old UPSes as needed)

 

I, also would rather fuel and leave home every AM with a full charge (tank) with Battery EVs. Larger vehicles like delivery trucks, buses would probably be better off with Fuel Cells for refuelings, but there is room for both BEVs & FCEVs.

 

In their eco-car plan, did you noticed they have plugin hybrid version with H2 instead of gas?

Recharging at home is fine as long as you stay near home. For long drives and extreme weather, you need higher density fuel that refuel fast. Remember, range anxiety is not only due to range. It is also caused by inability to recharging it quickly.

I don't like to plug and unplug every day. I don't mind doing it but I prefer to refuel weekly or bi-weekly.

The car has smart key so I don't have to grab my key to get in and drive away but I have to unplug? That kind of defeats SKS. Great to see Toyota looking into wireless charging for next gen.