Prius 'to be part solar-powered'

[confidenceb]

Toyota is planning to add solar-powered air conditioning to high-end models of its Prius hybrid cars, a report says. The new feature would be part of the third-generation Prius, which is due to be launched next year, according to the Nikkei business daily.

Source for the news.

[confidenceb]

Just espct for that car, anyway the oil price is high.

[Vansquish]

I have very limited respect for the car. The environmental impact of a Prius isn't nearly as small as most of the world seems to think it is, and if you count the amount of financial input that an individual has to make to own one, things really don't make a whole hell of a lot of sense in general.

See if the following math makes sense to you...

Toyota Prius:
Base price with Stability Control (as close as you can get to Traction control)
$24,110 USD

Ford Focus Sedan:
Base price with Traction Control
$14,310 USD

This is a $9,800 USD difference in base price...

Now the fun part....at roughly $4.00 USD per gallon (nat'l average as I write is $4.11), $9,800 bucks would buy you 2,450 gallons of gasoline.

The Focus's EPA numbers are 24mpg City and 35mpg HWY

This means that say...at an average of around 30mpg overall, the Focus would have to drive 73,500miles in order to use enough gas to even match up to the price of the Prius. Then, you have to consider that during that ownership period, the Prius would have to be driving and using gas too...

The Prius's EPA numbers are 48mpg City and 45mpg HWY, so let's say an average of 47mpg overall...
To drive the Prius 73,500 miles, you'd have to use 1564gallons of gas, which, at $4.00 per gallon adds an additional $6,255 to the running costs of the car...but of course if you're going to spend money on the Prius to keep it running, then you have to keep the Focus up as well and use the same amount of money on it.

The long and short of it is that, assuming my math is right, you'd have to drive the Focus over 276,000 miles and a Prius over 203,000 miles in order for the two to match up in terms of the financial impact on an individual owner...Unfortunately the Prius only has a 100k life expectancy for the batteries before you have to replace them...at additional cost of course.

There is, however, something to be said for environmental friendliness. The Prius does improve on the Focus in some areas, but there are still quite a few problems with it, not the least of which is finding somewhere to dump the batteries for the car after they've been through their useful lifespan. They are composed of materials that are quite toxic and cannot be simply disposed of. The amount of engineering work and resources spent on building the Prius are also not to be underestimated.

I guess the long and short of it is that until we fully remove ourselves from a petroleum-based economy the only real option is to figure out a cleaner, more efficient ICE and probably switch almost entirely to diesel and biodiesel products...which of course isn't to say that there aren't problems there as well...

[pitfield]

It's also worth noting that the prius is built in Japan, someone worked out that by the time the nickel in the batteries has left death valley and gone to Japan, and then the finished product has reached the UK it has already pumped out the equivalent of 50,000 miles of CO2.

[HeilSvenska]

It'll be even more of an eyesore.

[nthfinity]

Originally Posted by Vansquish blah blah blah

Very well written Jason

I think I wrote something with a little less eloquence comparing the Yaris to the Prius in similar terms...

I fear too much of the logic ends up falling on deaf ears... I wonder how long it's going to take for the next automotive bailout to happen.

[Pokiou]

its stupid.. thre is NO such thing is eco friendly car.. i mean to make that car the factory is burning something.. and then the trucks that get the material... its all a load of crock.

[Mattk]

^A Fred Flinstone car is quite eco-friendly. It's all natural.

Yeah, I'm not sure powering the air-conditioning using solar panels is going to make much of a difference. Maybe Prius drivers are weak and need to use it all the time. Most drivers tend not to use the air-conditioning unless it's either really cold or really hot, so it's not that useful. And then you have to have made the solar panels in the first place. Not a good idea.

[torrentjunkie]

Even if the A/C is solar powered, wouldn't there still be CFC's coming off from the car? If you really want to be eco friendly, plant some trees, cycle to work or use public transport.

[Mattk]

I think we can all concede that the limited utility of this latest gimmick is simply a marketing tool.

[Pokiou]

its sad that people actually prance around.. mind you the word PRANCE as in FAIR PRANCing around have the nerve to say.. IM PART OF THE SOLUTION NOT THE PROBLEM. YEA OK ... like your fart doesnt smell.(aussie saying)

[ae86_16v]

Gimmick.

[toffytofik]

So, what Nurburgring time they're gunning at with this?

[philip]

Actually pretty cool idea. Solar panel charges the battery which powers the car. So if you live in Houston you park on the roof of your parking garage to fully charge the battery while your at work.
Your car may get like an oven and your interior goes to pot but except for having to drive to the top of the parking garage to park, your saving the environment.

FYI. There is a new device for your old gas burning cars you can buy. It converts your gas burning car into a gas/hydrogen hybrid. You attach the device to your alternator, it converts water (you must provide) into hydrogen gas which is then allowed to enter the intake air and is burned by the car along with the regular gas and air. Nifty. I think it works as least as well as the solar panel on your Prius for sure.

[Evo8]

Prius isn't as much about reducing your emissions as about financing the "green" R&D.

Now, solar panels...
It all depends on how good they are.
Suppose you can extract 10kWh/m^2/day, on the average, with perfect cells. Space cells can give 30% and even 40% of that, but they won't put space-grade solar cells there. Cheap ones might be lucky to produce 10% - it's 1kWh/m^2. Assuming car's roof, trunk and hood are 4m^2 total, that is 4kWh/day, or 15MJ/day. Now, 15MJ is about what you get from burning 15/42/25%=1.5L of gasoline.
Hmm, not a big deal, but not completely nothing either. Over 200 sunny days a year, 5 years, it's 1500L or 400 gallons of gas.
In extremely sunny regions, that may be 3000L or 800 gallons.
In dimmer ones, significantly less.
Should be an option. Solar cells aren't cheap; while at $10/gallon, you can save $4000 in gas, if it's a warm climate, in colder climates battery cost might exceed gas savings. And that's if you always park outside.

It converts your gas burning car into a gas/hydrogen hybrid. You attach the device to your alternator, it converts water (you must provide) into hydrogen gas which is then allowed to enter the intake air and is burned by the car along with the regular gas and air.

It's outright waste of gas, making fuel economy only worse. You spend more energy producing power for that device than you get back.