Next Gen Prius To Have Roof Solar Panels

This should make Bore very happy ;-)

If it were anything but a Toyota you would be bashing the hell out of it. =)

Actually there were cars with solar panels before this, and an aftermarket company that made a solar powered system to keep cars cooler in hot climates, so Toyota copies that technology from someone else now SHUT UP STUPID!!!!!!

I would love to like this new car, but Idiot michale taylor makes me hate it. It does look nice though.

Audi and others have put solar sunroofs for a while already (as an option), the solar panel powers a fan. The fan runs while the car is turned off, that way you have a cooler car after it's been in the sun.

You can't get much power from such a small solar panel, it won't be powering an AC, a fan at best.

audi has already installed solar panels on its sunroof glass, and the bmw X5 hybrid prototype has solar panel on the roof, so there goes being the first to think about it, but still kudos to toyota for doing it on what i imagine will be a very large production scale... our future depends on it!

If all it's going to power is the air conditioning, it might not be worth buying. Solar panels are pretty expensive and air conditioning doesn't use that much more gas. If it was solar panels to power the car, then I think that would be a great idea.

It's funny that you say that because I had a road trip for the 4th of July weekend and I drove about 600 miles on my Toyota Camry...I averaged 40 MPG with the AC on all the time and I was driving about 65-80 MPH! This was really pleasing considering the gas prices now! But I also used cruise control most of the time so I don't know if that made a difference?

Starting with the AC I think is a good move. As time goes on, I am sure they are another automaker will take this idea and run with it, expanding it for other use within the car.

Well lets look at the EPA ratings...

2009 Volkswagen Jetta Diesel 30city/41hwy
2008 Toyota Prius hybrid 48city/45hwy

Advantage hybrid

okay i get it sailor, the epa overestimates for all hybrids but underestimates for all diesels because you said so. Thanx for clearing that up for all of us with a nice equal and fair scientific study on both cars.

I provide a link to a very scientific and very fair comparison. The sailor provides no link, just his opinion..and don't you dare question his opinion.

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I provide a link to a very scientific and very fair comparison. The sailor provides no link, just his opinion..and don't you dare question his opinion.

http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/7192/priuswinsh4.jpg

It's alright sailor everyone on the board can see that you're trying to take a magazine's "efficiency drive" stunt as real world numbers yet disregard the EPA's FAR MORE CONTROLLED (and thus fairer and a more accurate comparison) revised 2008 style numbers as somehow not scientific.

You want to take mpg numbers for the diesel from this magazines "efficiency drive" stunt and compare it with a different cars mpg numbers FROM COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SOURCES! Way to have multiple variables. A far better comparison would be one from the same source. Especially when that source conducts tests as controlled as the EPA does. I'm quite certain a great majority on this board would agree. I'm sure you'll continue to try and compare the loosely controlled "efficiency drive" mpg numbers against some completely different set of mpg numbers...but you're not fooling anybody.

It is very controlled and scientific. The EPA tests follow set parameters to make sure all cars are tested the same. That's what the great majority of people will use to compare mpg numbers, from a controlled test where they know that every car was tested at the same speed in the same conditions.

On the other hand YOU want to take mpg numbers from one magazines "efficiency drive" stunt where they averaged 45-50mph in ideal conditions and compare it to a completely different magazines road test where they did 75mph on the highway and and had stop and go traffic.

Every single time I get into my '06 Civic hybrid the hybrid battery (as well as the 12volt under the hood) "pre-charged". When I drove it off the dealer lot is was "pre-charged". Every time I fill up the battery is in a state of "pre-charge". Regenerative braking keeps the battery "pre-charged". BMW is not going to get an extra 2 gallons of gasoline on it's own, don't be stupid, but hybrids do charge their batteries on their own.

BTW you can paypal me that "fiver" at enp83 at hotmail.

70mpg '09 A4 is from the other article posted earlier, where they had 20 drivers drive a preselected efficient route and told them to drive in the most efficient way possible averaging 45-50mph. Now you're trying to compare a EUROPEAN "comcycle rating" to a US figure...are you even using the same type of "gallon"? Even if a diesel got 15% better gas mileage than a hybrid it would still cost more per mile as diesel is 18-20% more expensive (in the US). Therefore to be the same cost effective a diesel needs to get at least 18-20% better mpg than a gasoline hybrid.

The fact that you even entertained the idea that the Civic hybrid is a plug in showcases just how little you know about hybrids. Honda (or Toyota) has never sold a plug in hybrid in the US. I would love to have one though as the electricity to power the car would not cost as much as gasoline.

A GREAT MAJORITY of the energy restored into the hybrid battery packs comes from regenerative breaking. Turning the kinetic energy from the momentum of the car into electrical energy for the battery pack instead of turning into heat in the brake rotors and pads. Now if you'll excuse me I'm off to drive by "pre-charged" Civic hybrid...still "pre-charged after 54k miles...

"I have no idea if the civic hybrid is plug in"-TheSailor showcases his lack of knowledge about hybrids.

"they use a car that has a full battery"

Provide documentation or STFU



"I have no idea if the civic hybrid is plug in"-TheSailor showcases his lack of knowledge about hybrids. (He doesn't even understand regenerative braking)

Blame your lack of knowledge on whatever you want, the fact remains the same that you don't know much about them.

I used the search feature on epa.gov and found nothing about hybrid cars being "pre-charged" or starting with a full battery during the EPA tests. Once again, provide documentation or STFU...


"I have no idea if the civic hybrid is plug in"-TheSailor showcases his lack of knowledge about hybrids. (He doesn't even understand regenerative braking)

Sorry but the purden of proof is on the one making the claim...this isn't the Mexican legal system. The Civic Hybrid's highway mileage rating is IDENTICAL to the Prius. Once again, you don't know what you're talking about. No one on this site is surprised by that anymore.

if it sounds too good to be true, chances are, it is not true.

The efficiency of the Silicon photocells are very low. Most commercial used solar panels have around 12% efficiency. Given the prius’ surface area, I estimated that no more than 240 watts (under the optimum condition, or STC condition) of power can be produced. As a rule of thumb, average power is equal to 20% of the peak power. I high doubt those energy would be enough to power the AC.

As a side note, the last attempt to use solar energy in a car (that I know) is done by Audi, and all they managed to do was to power a small electric fan to circulate the air while you are away from the car. A small fan uses no more than 1 watt/h, and a decent electric AC uses at least 300 W/ hr.

In conclusion, I don’t think the car is capable of powering the AC purely by the solar panel.

perfect analyses, I think Audi (and others?) still offers the solar panel/fan combination as part of a summer package on the A6 and A8.

"becoming the first major automaker to use solar power for a vehicle"

Ehile I understand its use in powering batteries, both Audi and Mazda have used solar cells.

In 1985 Saab had a sports car that used solar cells on the roof to turn on the a/c fan to keep the interior of the car cool: "One of the most significant integration of environmentally sensitive technologies in the EV-1 was the roof being built almost entirely of solar cells that produce electric power for the fans that provide ventilation in the car when located in close proximity to direct and indirect sunlight."

http://www.saabhistory.com/2007/06/24/the-saab-experimental-vehicle-ev-1-1985/

Obviously, this feature and its potential was unimportant back in 1985 when gas prices were nothing.

Thank you, Quizz, Now I don't have to do the research myself to shut Michael Taylors ignorant Arse up!

I thought the Prius already has the A/C operating independent of the gasoline engine?

This is probably the smartest idea I have ever heard Toyota say! What a genius idea - why can't other brands be as smart as this? Bravo, Toyota. But I don't think they should stop just at the Prius, put it in other models as well. Good job.

There we go again.. "..becoming the first major automaker to use solar power for a vehicle" Guess the writers at the Nikkei business daily don't do any research.. Quizz is right..Audi has had it on some European models for years, and brought it to the US in late 2003 on the A8 (go to audiusa and see the curent A8 options list..its $790)

That said, its another example of great marketing from Toyota.. A Prius with solar panels couldn't be greener regardless of what the panels were used for...Some people will even believe it powers the car..think its a smart idea that will augment the image of the Prius and Toyota in general.

Truly beautiful technology coming from Toyota, excellent job!

Eventually solar paint will not only cool your ride but it will also recharge your batteries to, now all toyota has to do is have a way larger cruising range in electric only.

Audi had solar panels in the roof back in the 1990's.

"First" claim is totally bogus.

This feature is perfect: A marketing gimmick tacked onto a car that is itself a marketing gimmick.
The Prius came out to stop tree-huggers from spray painting Toyota's gas-guzzling SUVs, at a time when Toyota sold more models of SUVs than ANYONE. What a green company!

Now they tack on a dinky solar panel that provides only 10% of the power needed for just the AC alone (a detail that they omit).
So it does dick, but makes tree-huggers even more smug driving a car that created the pollution of dozens of non-hybrids in its production.

Way to go Toyota!

Meanwhile, in countries where gas is expensive and people judge cars by REAL performance, Toyota sells tons of diesels and no hybrids. Funny that?