Toyota developing solar powered car?

Jonathon Ramsey — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 10:28:00 EST

Filed under: Hybrid, Green, Technology, Hatchback, Toyota

Twelve years ago, Toyota started selling a car that was bought by those considered avant-garde, on the fringe. It was called the Prius. Now Toyota is looking to "turn around its struggling business with a futuristic ecological car," and the company is supposedly working on plans for a solar-powered car. We'll ignore, for a moment, that a company with $18 billion in cash and experiencing its first annual operational loss in 70 years is now called a "struggling business." The noteworthy news is that while other automakers are trying to get their hybrid acts together, Toyota is down the road working on a car powered solely by le soleil.

There is little in the way of hard information at this point. The Japanese newspaper Nikkei disclosed the development, saying that the car would have solar cells, and that it would also be charged by solar cells on homes. Also according to Nikkei, the solar cells on the car will be as powerful as those on the house, capable of generating 2-5 kilowatts.

Toyota has talked publicly about a solar panel option on the next Prius, but that was called "a symbolic gesture" by an insider. Privateers have also done their part contributing to the idea of a Prius augmented by solar power, largely with mixed results. Nevertheless, Toyota has a keen partner in the venture: Panasonic. The giant consumer electronics maker that makes Prius batteries is in the midst of buying Sanyo, the world's 7th-largest solar cell maker. Nevertheless, solar cell technology isn't advanced enough to create a mass-market solar car, which is why reports claim it will be years before such a vehicle is on the market. As one Japanese solar energy expert said, "Even if you laid solar panels out on the entire roof of a house, you only generate enough energy to run two hairdryers." Hat-tip: Jarrett

[Source: Yahoo!]

Toyota developing solar powered car? originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 02 Jan 2009 10:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dyson NOT developing solar-powered electric car

Frank Filipponio — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:03:00 EST

Filed under: Hybrid, Green

Maybe Dyson doesn't suck as much as we thought. James Dyson, the inventor of new age, overpriced vacuum cleaners, had recently been reported by The Independent as interested in working on developing his own green auto, specifically a solar-powered electric vehicle. The story (as reported by AB Green and others) was that Dyson engineers were working on an electric motor derived from the one used in their own vacuum cleaners. Dyson was said to be looking for partners to build the car, with the company itself developing the powerplant. Apparently there's a sucker born every minute, as Dyson is now stating that he never told anyone they were developing a car, just that the new digital motor in their latest vacuum cleaner could power a car. If you read the article, it's blatantly apparent that the interviewer got caught reaching too far with Dyson's quotes. Semantics aside, we still like the idea of a modern sucker car like the Chaparral 2J sucker car. If Dyson vacuum motors replaces the snowmobile engines used on the original, so much the better.

[Source: Autocar]

Dyson NOT developing solar-powered electric car originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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