Required? Not here in Minnesota. As for snow, it will likely slide off of the glass easier than painted metal. .
With the temperture -7°F right now and it likely to drop below -20°F tonight, I couldn't help but to give someone from the south a hard time. That wil learn ya fer comin to Detroit and chatting in person. .
So what I'm saying is the solar panel will actually be "required" content for Phoenix owners. But not having LED lights w/ it - hard to light up those pesky coyotes jumping out in front of you.
This will definitely be a great feature in places like Phoenix. In summer interior temps can easily top 150F (65C), which can't be any good for the occupants or the batteries. On startup, if the battery temp is high enough the controller sets the CDL/CCL to almost 0. Then you are running in turtle mode as the ICE tries to both power the car and run the AC through MG1 while the vent fan furiously tries to cool the battery with the hot cabin air. Its not that big a deal, but it really destroys your mileage. There are tricks to help with this, like parking in the shade, cracking windows, dropping windows for the first minutes after start, but when its 115-120F outside its still tough to get things cooled down. Solar is ideal for the application, as the car is generally only heating up when the sun is beating down on it fairly directly. You'll get a lot less power in winter (particularly in the north) due to the poor sun angle, but you still might be able to do something with it. Boo, I think you are way overestimating the cost impact of having solar in the roof. Retail qty 1 cost of an 80W solar panel is around $400. Volume wholesale should be much lower. USB, most laptop power supplies these days are around 100W. The netbook class machines are a very impressive exception. Definitely something to consider! Rob
I just pre-ordered the solar version. Despite the fact that I wanted the goodies, the Solar option cannot be missing in my situation.
One of the people I talked to said that the temps read by thermocouples near the battery pack were part of the equation for the start point for the automatic ventilation. I went for the gold package also. Halogen headlamps seem old school though.
I don't know. I'm going by the cost of a typical moonroof -- around $1000. Despite the $400 cost of an 80W solar panel, I just can't see the cost of the solar panel/ventilation/AC set-up Toyota is talking about being less than the typical cost of a moonroof.
The solar panel /air circ system is a ridiculous idea. At best it's for PR/Show. It's about as useful as the headlight wipers on a Mercedes, only probably 100 times more expensive than the wipers.If your gonna produce electricy onboard an electric vehicle, it's ludicrous not to be able to use the electricity. Even if it's minimal.
I don't think it's ridiculous. I see it primarily as a comfort option, with a small added benefit of reduced A/C demand (which saves a small fraction on MPG). Why do people buy $60k luxury automobiles when a $30k one would be just as useful? Comfort is a big reason. I hate crawling into a car that's 160 degrees on the inside and takes forever to cool off. If you have no use for the solar panel option, then don't buy a Prius with that option. Time will tell, based upon sales and customer satisfaction, how "ridiculous" the option is.
While I wouldn't call it ridiculous, I do think on reflection it is more of a marketing gimmick than a practical option, mainly due to it's low power output. But at least Toyota are prepared to offer the idea; ultimately the market will decide its popularity. I have 19 Sharp 200W solar panels on my roof, which during summer months here in Southern California means I am feeding power back to the grid. In practical terms it cost me less than the price of a new Prius to install, has reduced my electricity bill to 1/10 of what it was, and is essentially zero maintenance cost. But it does occupy a relative large roof area (338 sq.ft.), since the panels are only around 12% efficient. Substantial increases in the latter figure coupled with reduced manufacturing costs will help improve PV panel viability. I have hopes that this will occur over the next decade. It does require a sunny environment though!
Except that they have packaged the sun/moon roof with the solar venting roof. People who REALLY REALLY want the sun/moon roof will fork over for the solar venting but not by desire for the 'option'. You can't measure the 'desirability' of each feature separately. Did you know that silver was by far the most popular color of 2004 Prius? They know that because about half of the cars sold were silver. Of course, half the cars arriving on the boats were silver and people took whatever came in as long as they didn't hate the color. My car is Driftwood, not because I requested it (I wanted Seaside) but because it wasn't black or white, the 2 colors I did NOT want. The statistic shows nothing about actual customer preference. Maybe I have too much extra time, but if the car is hot, I reach in, push the power button twice and lower all the windows. Wait a few minutes, get in and drive off. The 'all windows auto up/down' makes this even easier. I also put on WeatherTech side window deflectors so I can leave the windows cracked. Around here, most of the time it gets hot, there is also a good chance of having a T-Storm. I pretty much never use the A/C except on the Interstate on sunny days. Of course, mid 90s F are high here, it isn't Phoenix . The real value of the solar venting system is, as said earlier, keeping the temp down so the interior surfaces don't degrade as quickly. The remote A/C thing? Bah. At least it is electric so you aren't polluting while it runs.
It makes a big difference where you live. We live in a cold climate, so solar venting is not an issue. Vermont, where you live, is similar. Someone living in a southern state could make the claim that snow tires are silly. Maybe they have too much time on their hands, but on the rare occasion that it snows, they just wait for it to melt. Tom
heh... you really dont need most of the features in modern vehicle if you put it that way. Around here, it gets really really hot and solar will not be only cool, but also provide useful option for venting the vehicle... Remote A/C too.
I don't disagree, but just so you don't think I have NO idea what it is like driving cars in hot climates, I grew up in So. Cal. I moved to Vermont in 1979. The first car I owned that had A/C was an '86 Mazda. I have many years of 'hot car in the afternoon' experience
I don't have much experience with that. My closest experience came from driving a rag-top Jeep C-J5 with black vinyl seats. After a day at the beach, you could leave most of your skin on those seats. A wet towel helped. Tom
Tinting the windows is far more effective and a lot cheaper too. Also don't forget that the solar panel will get hot in the sun too, which degrades its electrical output. If there is no air gap between it and the roof structure, the solar heat will get transmitted to the car interior. It would be nice to know if Toyota are offering window tint as a factory option for the U.S. version. I would guess not, as tinting laws seem to vary somewhat by state.
Cali got nothing on us... all windows tinted + protective screen for dashboard and yet after 2-3 hours in sun, it is impossible to get into the vehicle right away and need to wait for few minutes with doors open to enter the car . but as I said, both are both cool and convinient features that i wont mind be paying for in car that costs 30k.
I pre-ordered the solar panel version too. Hopefully, solar powered vent and tint will prevent the leather seats from "burn to the touch" hot.
Did anyone else notice the stock windows were tinted a bit more than usual (not after-market film level, but noticable) - at least on the Winter Grey car? We can hope that helps a tad too.
