[urzdeepu]

Today I had a chance to visit the Toyota dealership in the town and i came across a new Prius which was displayed in the showroom.

Prius has been famous with its hybrid technology where in it uses both the petrol engine and rechargeable battery for powering its motors.

What caught my attention was not just the Prius but the addition of a Solar Panel in the roof of the car.

As per the information this Solar panel plays a vital part in powering the electrical equipment of the car including the A/C.Initially I too thought the same to be a normal black roof but on closer inspection it was confirmed to be a solar panel.

Is this some new addition or the car already carried this feature before? Some pictures of the car and the solar panel.

[gthang]

Originally Posted by urzdeepu

What caught my attention was not just the Prius but the addition of a Solar Panel in the roof of the car.

As per the information this Solar panel plays a vital part in powering the electrical equipment of the car including the A/C.Initially I too thought the same to be a normal black roof but on closer inspection it was confirmed to be a solar panel.

Is this some new addition or the car already carried this feature before? Some pictures of the car and the solar panel.

Interesting to see someone has booked a New Prius.

The Solar roof powers a fan that vents the cabin to maintain ambient temperature.

New feature for the Prius, yes. But a feature available on a Fifth generation Mazda 929 way back in 1991 - 1996.

Cheers.

[Chillout]

Yes, this is a new feature and the model i drove also had this strange noise when the car was driven purely by battery. On enquiry they mentioned it was intentionally added for the benefit of blind folks on road as earlier it used to be very silent and folks did not have any clue that a car was approaching them.

[Nitrous Power]

Originally Posted by Chillout

Yes, this is a new feature and the model i drove also had this strange noise when the car was driven purely by battery. On enquiry they mentioned it was intentionally added for the benefit of blind folks on road as earlier it used to be very silent and folks did not have any clue that a car was approaching them.

Yes, that is correct. New EU and USA Norms require a hybrid or electric cars to produce an audible sound while running completely on Electric mode. As correctly mentioned by dealer, it is for benefit of the blind folks as well as the kids playing in neighborhoods.

[fx45]

that's the facelifted Prius. Had no idea Toyota had launched it already in India.

[Mpower]

Like Gthang explained, the panel powers the blower which runs in 'fresh air' mode so that the air inside does not 'cook' to 55 deg while the car sits in the hot sun.

In doing so, it reduces the load on the A/C in the crucial 'first 10 mins' after startup and thus improves economy.

As a secondary benefit, it greatly enhances the comfort to the driver & passengers in those aforementioned few minutes.

Neither the V12 S-class or the V12 RR Phantom can boast of this feature

[VineetG]

Originally Posted by Mpower

Like Gthang explained, the panel powers the blower which runs in 'fresh air' mode so that the air inside does not 'cook' to 55 deg while the car sits in the hot sun.

In doing so, it reduces the load on the A/C in the crucial 'first 10 mins' after startup and thus improves economy.

As a secondary benefit, it greatly enhances the comfort to the driver & passengers in those aforementioned few minutes.

Neither the V12 S-class or the V12 RR Phantom can boast of this feature

Hi, With such a large roof panel, is it only possible to power a fan? I think that panel can generate more power than that and can and should be used to charge the batteries? What's your opinion?

Rgds

[revintup]

Originally Posted by Mpower

Like Gthang explained, the panel powers the blower which runs in 'fresh air' mode so that the air inside does not 'cook' to 55 deg while the car sits in the hot sun.

In doing so, it reduces the load on the A/C in the crucial 'first 10 mins' after startup and thus improves economy.

As a secondary benefit, it greatly enhances the comfort to the driver & passengers in those aforementioned few minutes.

Must be quite useful abroad. But in our smoky and dusty conditions, would this not be most undesirable? Imagine getting into the car and the car smelling like the nearby garbage truck or the smoke from the trucks.

Is there some filtering mechanism to prevent such situations?

Originally Posted by Mpower

Neither the V12 S-class or the V12 RR Phantom can boast of this feature

Precisely why these two did not make it to my shopping list last time

[Maky]

Originally Posted by speed kills

OT:

Bit of a noob question, but I've always wondered why Hybrid vehicles have such boring rims

Has it got something to do with increasing fuel efficiency by reducing drag?

Case in point

I think yes.
I believe that's why the 2009 or 2010, I can't remember exactly which, F1 cars had the same 'wheel cap' rims on them to reduce drag and/or improve aero flow. Although in the laters case I think it was to improve performance rather than for efficiency reasons.

[Enigmatic]

O.T.

Is it just me or has the Prius actually started looking good ?? Where have those quirky curves gone ??

And what a marvelous job they have done with the interiors, i couldn't resist posting a couple of pics :-

[Mpower]

Originally Posted by VineetG

Hi, With such a large roof panel, is it only possible to power a fan? I think that panel can generate more power than that and can and should be used to charge the batteries? What's your opinion?

Solar panels simply lack the power density to power any kind of heavy electrical load.

State of the art solar panels currently make 10 watts/sq. ft and you can probably fit about 4-5 sqft on a E2o (50W)...this is only a fraction of the 3500 Watts (3.5kW) that the E2o needs for a 5 hour charge.

Originally Posted by revintup

Must be quite useful abroad. But in our smoky and dusty conditions, would this not be most undesirable? Imagine getting into the car and the car smelling like the nearby garbage truck or the smoke from the trucks.

Is there some filtering mechanism to prevent such situations?

You do bring up a good point.

I would assume that Prius (like any contemporary mid-luxury car) has a cabin air filter. But regardless, an disable feature would be greatly useful in Indian conditions.

[volkman10]

Toyota Wants to Build a Solar Car That Can Run Forever.












Toyota Motor Corp. has teamed up with Sharp Corp. and New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization of Japan to build a car that could potentially run forever.

It is a long way from that though. Currently, a Prius plug-in hybrid that sells for more than 3 million yen has solar panels as an option.

However, the vehicle only charges when parked and the maximum amount of power for driving only lasts about 6 kilometers (about 4 miles). Still, the team has made some impressive breakthroughs in its new research and development involving a new solar-powered Prius that has been tested since July.

Impressive breakthroughs:

For starters, they have produced solar panels that convert sunlight at an efficiency level of more than 34%, compared with about 20% for current panels on the market. Furthermore, they have engineered solar cells of about 0.03 mm thick that can be placed on the car's roof, hood and hatchback.

This means that the car can be equipped with an electrical system that can charge the vehicle even when it’s on the move

if the car is only driven four days a week for a maximum of 50 kilometers a day, it does not need to be plugged in anywhere.

Link

[Punatic]

though still to do with roof solar panels.

This quick review of the feature on the new Hyundai Sonata (US), which is a Hybrid to begin with, describes the state of the technology at the moment as "It’s what I imagine people who have GPUs mining bitcoin feel."

So, a long way away still from being self-sufficient panels, but at least we seem to be on that path.

[phamilyman]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usqSJ7zbTLQ

is the review we didn't know we need by the youtuber many of us love.

Even today, it is only 30-35 W being generated by this roof in USA conditions - even if you take double that in India, that is only a little bit of value to someone in North India.

Its probably useful to someone living on the Gujarat coastline - where there's enough sun but also the weather is moderate enough :-)