4 ms·

Toyota offered a solar roof option on the Prius for a short time. The intent was to provide power to run the AC for a car that wasn’t parked in the shade. I’v

Toyota offered a solar roof option on the Prius for a short time. The intent was to provide power to run the AC for a car that wasn’t parked in the shade. I’ve worked at several offices where there was zero/limited covered parking and I would have grabbed this option for my Prius if it had been available.

steveBK123 4y ago
Toyota yanking the feature tells us something about the consumer uptake, cost-benefit, and ROI.
- brookst 4y ago
  So what does Toyota re-introducing the feature this year[0] tell us? 0. https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a41978716/2023-toyota-prius/ https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a41978716/2023-toyota-priu...
  - danuker 4y ago
    Perhaps, the continuous price decrease of solar panels?
  - parker_mountain 4y ago
    It tells us that in the last 10 years or so, a component has had its price decrease and its efficiency increase. It also tells us that solar panels on a vehicle, even if they don't lead to huge benefit, make for great marketing.
panick21_ 4y ago
With a modern electric car you just use your phone to turn on the AC before you get there.
- mcv 4y ago
  I don't waste the AC on something like that but just open all the doors for a minutes or so.
agumonkey 4y ago
Also depending on the material, it could be a film to glide under windows, so youd avoid heating the car and getting current.
fortran77 4y ago
There may be a use-case for a small amount of solar panels just to pump air throught the car to keep the interior a little cooler. These won't have to integrate with the cars charging or storage system--they'd just have to power some small fans
- Scoundreller 4y ago
  Or warmer after your vehicle has been parked all night and it’s now daytime and warmer outside than your vehicle’s interior.
ecliptik 4y ago
We had a Prius with a solar roof. Wasn't by choice, just happened to come with it since the car had all the other options we wanted. From what I remember it would periodically turn on the vents to circulate air when in full sun. Also had a button on the remote to startup the AC, which only worked within remote range. Both features did make the cabin relatively cooler after being in the sun for a few hours. This was moderately useful in Southern California. At the time reading about why it wouldn't trickle charge the battery had something to do with radio interference, which I feel was just an excuse to avoid hooking up a proper charging system. Doubt it would have made much of a difference anyway.
- Scoundreller 4y ago
  Features like this are a huge boon for in-vehicle air quality. Stepping into a new car that’s been sitting in the sun can’t be healthy. I just wish parked vehicles could automatically crack the windows open, but shut them if it’s raining/snowing. Maybe some geo-fencing so it only does it in relatively “safe” locations. Would also be beneficial in cold weather climates: it’s colder at night, so it would be warmer when I enter in the morning if it let the warmer morning air in.
  - ggreer 4y ago
    EVs can do this without significantly depleting the battery. Every Tesla keeps the cabin temperature below 105°F as long as the battery is above 20% charge.[1] You can also turn on the climate control from your phone, making the car a comfortable temperature before you get in it. 1. https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/model3/en_us/GUID-4F3599A1-20D9-4A49-B4A0-5261F957C096.html#CONCEPT_ULS_JYR_DX__GUID-BF40C5F7-B80D-4FD4-AFA4-C99C8A863976 https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/model3/en_us/GUID-4F3599A...
sbierwagen 4y ago
The first gen Nissan Leaf EV had a small solar panel on the roof to run a ventilation fan: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nissan_LEAF_SL_Solar_Spoiler.jpg https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nissan_LEAF_SL_Solar_Sp... It seems to have been dropped in the model refresh, I can't see it in any of the exterior photos and it's not mentioned in the 2022 owner's manual.
- quintushoratius 4y ago
  Our Leaf has a small solar panel, but it's for maintaining the 12v battery. It's much too small (it might be a 1/2 square foot IIRC) to the generate significant amounts of voltage and power needed to charge the main battery.

steveBK123 4y ago

Toyota yanking the feature tells us something about the consumer uptake, cost-benefit, and ROI.

brookst 4y ago
So what does Toyota re-introducing the feature this year[0] tell us? 0. https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a41978716/2023-toyota-prius/ https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a41978716/2023-toyota-priu...
- danuker 4y ago
  Perhaps, the continuous price decrease of solar panels?
- parker_mountain 4y ago
  It tells us that in the last 10 years or so, a component has had its price decrease and its efficiency increase. It also tells us that solar panels on a vehicle, even if they don't lead to huge benefit, make for great marketing.

panick21_ 4y ago

With a modern electric car you just use your phone to turn on the AC before you get there.

mcv 4y ago
I don't waste the AC on something like that but just open all the doors for a minutes or so.

agumonkey 4y ago

Also depending on the material, it could be a film to glide under windows, so youd avoid heating the car and getting current.

fortran77 4y ago

There may be a use-case for a small amount of solar panels just to pump air throught the car to keep the interior a little cooler. These won't have to integrate with the cars charging or storage system--they'd just have to power some small fans

Scoundreller 4y ago
Or warmer after your vehicle has been parked all night and it’s now daytime and warmer outside than your vehicle’s interior.

ecliptik 4y ago

We had a Prius with a solar roof. Wasn't by choice, just happened to come with it since the car had all the other options we wanted. From what I remember it would periodically turn on the vents to circulate air when in full sun. Also had a button on the remote to startup the AC, which only worked within remote range. Both features did make the cabin relatively cooler after being in the sun for a few hours. This was moderately useful in Southern California. At the time reading about why it wouldn't trickle charge the battery had something to do with radio interference, which I feel was just an excuse to avoid hooking up a proper charging system. Doubt it would have made much of a difference anyway.

Scoundreller 4y ago
Features like this are a huge boon for in-vehicle air quality. Stepping into a new car that’s been sitting in the sun can’t be healthy. I just wish parked vehicles could automatically crack the windows open, but shut them if it’s raining/snowing. Maybe some geo-fencing so it only does it in relatively “safe” locations. Would also be beneficial in cold weather climates: it’s colder at night, so it would be warmer when I enter in the morning if it let the warmer morning air in.
- ggreer 4y ago
  EVs can do this without significantly depleting the battery. Every Tesla keeps the cabin temperature below 105°F as long as the battery is above 20% charge.[1] You can also turn on the climate control from your phone, making the car a comfortable temperature before you get in it. 1. https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/model3/en_us/GUID-4F3599A1-20D9-4A49-B4A0-5261F957C096.html#CONCEPT_ULS_JYR_DX__GUID-BF40C5F7-B80D-4FD4-AFA4-C99C8A863976 https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/model3/en_us/GUID-4F3599A...

sbierwagen 4y ago

The first gen Nissan Leaf EV had a small solar panel on the roof to run a ventilation fan: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nissan_LEAF_SL_Solar_Spoiler.jpg https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nissan_LEAF_SL_Solar_Sp... It seems to have been dropped in the model refresh, I can't see it in any of the exterior photos and it's not mentioned in the 2022 owner's manual.

quintushoratius 4y ago
Our Leaf has a small solar panel, but it's for maintaining the 12v battery. It's much too small (it might be a 1/2 square foot IIRC) to the generate significant amounts of voltage and power needed to charge the main battery.