TV Schedule

Toyota's Prius to Go Solar


  3. kristianbrodie
  4. related topics
Environmentalist's ride is set to get even greener - Toyota revealed that they are developing a new version of their hybrid car, the Prius, with a solar-panelled roof.

The solar panels aren't set to power the car itself however - instead, they'll be used to power the air-conditioning.
kristianbrodie

24 responses // Toyota's Prius to Go Solar

  • It is good to see that car companies are really trying to innovate in order to survive. The speed of technology wouold suggest that it won't be that long before we can actually purchase electric cars that can travel long distances on a single charge.
    Beta_Boy
  • Great move......have any of you tried to buy a Prius.....talk about hotcakes....seems like the companies going under could smell the bacon burning.......the whole exterior should be solar....maybe a solar paint....also the wind at speeds over fifty miles an hour could power some small things if made where drag was limited.......that's oil for now.......Golden Ruler....Will.......
    Virtual_Will_Rogers
  • Now is the time for someone in America to step up and manufacture a solar/wind powered car that is affordable to the masses.....kind of like a green Henry Ford......I have money just waiting to buy stock.....let the oil people drink their surplus and quit using it as lubrication on the American and world population......Golden Ruler.....tomorrow......Johnnie Hargrave..........
    recommended by  huntre
    Relevations
  • as usual America lags behind. Go Toyota!
    twodee
  • "Green Henry Ford"
    Like that one.
    huntre
  • Sweet, now if they'd build a good hydrogen car that doesn't get its hydrogen from OIL like the Chevy Equinox http://www.chevrolet.com/fuelcell/ A TOTAL SHAM.
    onechance
  • onechance........you hit it again.....a sham....and a shame......but it is hard to see when you have your head stuck up your butt....like the American or Americant car companies....oh yeah....never start and stop a sentence with but........Golden Ruler.......Will..........
    Virtual_Will_Rogers
  • Virtual_Will_Rogers thanks for passig this on.
    howell
  • finally!
    TrafficKills
  • please, guys, stop suggesting that, by sticking something on a car to extract energy from the wind blowing by when you're moving down the highway, you'll get a net benefit from it? please????

    unless it's 100% efficient in converting the wind power into, say, electricity, all you're doing is increasing the aerodynamic drag on the vehicle, thus lowering its fuel efficiency MORE than the energy that would be extracted for the car.

    solar panels probably won't create much, if any drag for a car like the Prius, so the benefit of getting the electricity and using it IS A plus!

    anything that adds ANY drag is a net MINUS.

    sorry, physics, science, and facts of life. if it were a benefit or a true value, you'd have seen it on cars decades ago.
    plusaf
  • ...and to continue plusaf's thoughts.... " yeah, and stop trying to change things in the world...change is for sissies....keep it all the same and watch us drown in our own vomit"
    twodee
  • Cars are a drag....period....at certain speeds the air pressure between the highway and under carriage could be channeled ino small turbines with the drag coefficient hardly changed.....the way things are going....cars might benefit from full sails......the weight of cars is probably one of the greatest obstacles....weight to safety ratio......Plusaf...If it were a benefit or true value...you would have seen it on cars decades ago ....are we in the same country?...Golden Ruler.....Johnnie Hargrave......
    Relevations
  • @twodee, if you would stop putting words "in my mouth" i'd really appreciate it. that was rude, uncalled for, and factually inaccurate, too....

    just because people think it would be nice to make cars efficient by doing things which won't in fact, accomplish that, does NOT mean that i'm opposed to change, improvement and making things better in general.

    i bought my prius in '04, when gas was LOTS cheaper. why? to save money on gas AND to burn less of it and buy less of it from the countries that didn't tend to like us any more then than they do now.

    today, i drive the same prius and even at $4/gallon, enjoy the mileage and don't have to worry about the cost of driving. i'm trying to talk my wife into dumping her '98 22-mpg full-boat Camry XLE for a new prius, but she loves the car and we may wait until the plug-in hybrid prius comes out in a few years.

    then, she'll be going from 22 mpg to 75-100 mpg, and I'LL BE the jealous one.

    @revelations, please run any of your ideas past someone who knows things about science and technology, because you obviously won't believe ME when i say that your suggestions are very nice and well-intentioned, but not founded on any scientific or practical bases.

    channels under cars are put there to REDUCE air resistance, and you're suggesting adding air resistance to extract energy out of the air stream?

    i'd say "think about it" but .......... you know.... someone'll call me names because i'm not agreeing with you.


    sounds like "science by consensus" again.....
    'ta.....
    plusaf
  • I am sorry about my outburst Plusaf. That was out of line of me. I have a very short fuse these days and would do well to shut my face when I am in this funk. again, my apologies. It is good to be reminded of a better and non-violent way of communication.
    twodee
    1 response to this
  • Glad to see good people getting along again.
    This site is a great forum for people to express their views. In doing that it's easy to get worked up when something or someone is misunderstood, I'm guilty of that myself.

    Let's all try to keep our focus on what we care about: real, positive, unified change.

    We can do that, I have faith in us.

    You guys/girls ROCK.

    PEACE & COEXISTANCE
    onechance
  • won't buy one its not american!
    regularrf
    2 responses to this
  • @onechance... ps... you won't need the boycott.... i read the other day that workers in china have discovered how little money they're getting compared to the final selling prices overseas [read: USA] where their goods are sold... and they're demanding upwards of 20% raises and more on a regular basis.

    they're going to end their "take over the world" just like japan did some decades ago when everyone was afraid they'd bury the US economically and in terms of manufacturing prowess.

    didn't happen. all pendulums swing back. china's will, too, and you won't need a boycott to make it happen. i promise you!

    stay tuned to all channels for another few years.
    plusaf
  • For those that think that if something like a solar powered car would have already been around if it was thesable. I want to know how pretentious you really are. Brazil has been fuelling cars with formented sugar cane for decades, but since we haven't tried in this country, people assume that we do have to rely on petroleum. Before our nations' ban on hemp (which doesn't get you high) our leading export was hempoline. Our nations dependance on oil has been created by the big corporations, that for the past century have been securing their stronghold in american politics and yellow journalism. As far as wind turbines to power cars, what does that have to do with solar panels.
    cheecha1986
  • hey Cheecha. Both wind and solar work well to power a car. Pug an electric car into a grid that is powered by wind/solar/geothermal and there ya have it! Simple! no mystery. problem is.... that is not yet happening... but it will. Don't wait for your big corporations and utilites to do it. Demand it from your political system/representatives and vote with your dollars.
    twodee
  • @twodee... , re: How did unions ruin the auto industry in America? By demanding fair pay to their workers? fill me in on what you mean.".....

    BY demanding pay that was geared to their WANTS, not to their CONTRIBUTION to the product.... [in a few words.]

    if the proverbial lug-nut-twister with an air gun could make $30 an hour, including benefits, back when i, with a college degree, was making $25 doing some pretty esoteric scientific stuff and dealing with megabuck customers and sales people on a daily basis, where's the "FAIR" in that????

    how do you think i felt about that, back in the 60s and 70s....

    "FAIR" is an offshoot of my 5th Law... http://www.plusaf.com/falklaws.htm#5th

    more data needed... please explain or define EXACTLY HOW you determine what's "FAIR."

    then, we may continue.... you'll see how rarely that part of the discussion EVER takes place....
    plusaf
  • http://www.thechinaexpat.com/if-i-were-a-chinese-factor...
    Without unions factory work could look more like the below example which does not sound fair to me no matter how many degrees or skills a person has.


    This is from someones blog but pretty much says better what I would attempt saying in reply:


    "Chinese factory workers (and when I say factory workers, I mean line workers / operators) work in conditions that would be considered unacceptable to most people in the developed world. How so? Let’s take a look:

    * Long hours - Most factory workers in China work twelve hour shifts from my understanding (please correct me if you think this is wrong). Less than this is unusual, and more very common.
    * Little pay - What do they get paid for working twelve hours a day, six days a week? Anywhere from 300 RMB (whether or not you believe me please see this article about my girlfriend’s cousin in Guangdong, China) to 2000 RMB - with the standard right about in the middle. I know the upper limit because the factory we audited today pays their operators this amount thanks to pressure from one of their multinational customers.
    * Unsafe conditions - While direct physical injuries are not so common these days at the bigger factories in China, there is still excessive exposure to chemicals and not enough safety measures to deal with such chemicals. Again, these are just personal observations.
    * No personal space or life outside of work - Most factory operators in China live in large dormitory-style rooms with eight people per room at a minimum.
    * Extremely monotonous work - There is no doubt that Chinese factories have more workers per process than most other countries in the world. This means that any given Chinese operator has a very limited job - often they are just required to perform one or two repeated movements minute after minute, hour after hour, day after day, and year after year.
    * Little chance for promotion - Opportunities to work oneself into a better job as an operator in a Chinese factory don’t come along too often. And there is little chance to take night classes to work yourself into a new job."
    twodee

Add your response

Login/Registration is required to add a response.