Toyota is testing a much more efficient solar roof for its electric cars
Get link
Facebook
X
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps
-
Capable of adding 44.5 km of range a day.
Toyota will start testing a new solar roof for the Prius that it says can add as much as 44.5 km of range to the plug-in hybrid a day. The solar cells, which are being manufactured by Sharp, are just 0.03mm thick, but deliver around 860 watts of power, and can even charge the car while it’s being driven. Testing is due to start on public roads later this month, but there’s no word on when it might make it into a commercial vehicle.
This isn’t the first time Toyota has made solar panels available for its cars. Way back in 2010 the manufacturer sold panels that could be used to recharge the car’s auxiliary battery (which powers secondary systems like the sat-nav and climate control). The difference here is that the new panels are much more efficient. They’re capable of producing almost five times as much power as the previous model, and can give over seven times the amount of range.
Image: Toyota
Toyota doesn’t currently produce any pure electric vehicles (unless you count the hydrogen-powered Mirai) so these solar roofs are destined for plug-in hybrids for the time being. Toyota has previously justified its decision to focus on hybrids by saying that if it uses its battery production capacity to produce a larger amount of hybrids, then it will reduce carbon emissions more than if it produced a smaller amount of pure electric vehicles. However, last month it announced plans to produce an all-electric drivetrain platform in partnership with Subaru, indicating that an all-electric Toyota could arrive eventually.
Considering the relatively minor power output you can get from putting solar panels on the roof of a car compared to the roof of a building, not to mention the challenges of doing so, it’s not surprising that the idea hasn’t really taken off yet. But there are a few companies experimenting with it. Most notably, the startup Lightyear plans to start delivering its “solar car” to customers in 2021, and Hyundai also announced plans to start installing solar roofs on select cars last year.
Source: Jon Porter|@JonPorty (The Verge). ~Best Feeds ™...
Giertz got tired of waiting for Elon Musk to release Tesla’s first pickup truck, so she made one herself. Simone Giertz was tired of waiting for Elon Musk to unveil his new Tesla pickup truck, so she decided to make one herself. The popular YouTuber and self-described “queen of shitty robots” transformed a Model 3 into an honest-to-god pickup truck, which she dubs “Truckla” — and naturally you can watch all the cutting and welding (and cursing) on her YouTube channel. There’s even a fake truck commercial to go along with it. Giertz spent over a year planning and designing before launching into the arduous task of turning her Model 3 into a pickup truck. And she recruited a ragtag team of mechanics and DIY car modifiers to tackle the project: Marcos Ramirez, a Bay Area maker, mechanic and artist; Boston-based Richard Benoit, whose YouTube channel Rich Rebuilds is largely dedicated to the modification of pre-owned Tesla models; and German des...
Chelsea will face Arsenal in the Europa League final on May 29 after knocking out Eintracht Frankfurt on penalties. Chelsea beat Eintracht Frankfurt on penalties on Thursday to set up an all-English Europa League final with local rivals Arsenal in Baku on May 29. Arsenal beat La Liga side Valencia 7-3 on aggregate, while in the other semi-final Chelsea and Eintracht Frankfurt finished 2-2 on aggregate after extra time. Chelsea won 4-3 on penalties to finally overcome their Bundesliga challengers. The result means both of Europe's club competitions will feature all-English finals after Tottenham Hotspur set up a June 1 title decider with Liverpool in the Champions League. Chelsea won the penalty shoot-out 4-3 and with it a place in the final against Arsenal. Kepa Arrizabalaga saved from Martin Hinteregger and Goncalo Paciencia before Hazard converted the decisive kick. Scores, Results & Fixtures THURSDAY 9TH MAY 2019 Chelsea 1 Frankfurt 1 ( Agg 2-2 ...
Lyft claims it has an exclusive license to operate both dockless and docked bikeshares in the city. Photo by Justin Sullivan / Getty Images Lyft filed a lawsuit against San Francisco today claiming city authorities are violating a contract it has with the ride-hailing company that gives Lyft exclusive rights to operate bike-share programs in the area. San Francisco’s Municipal Transportation Agency, on the other hand, says it has the authority to sign partnerships with dockless (also called stationless) vendors, and that Lyft’s contract gives it exclusivity only on docked bike shares. Lyft is seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent the city from issuing bikeshare permits to new vendors. As of today, Lyft owns the company Motivate, which operates the Ford GoBike bikeshare program in San Francisco, a docked program that until very recently offered both electric and non-electric bikes, among many others around the country. (Lyft pulled the e-bikes off city streets in A...
Comments
Post a Comment