Re: OT: Euro Gas prices
- From: Wirt Atmar <atmar@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 8 Jul 2008 18:45:01 -0400
Mark remarks:
I find that MPG is the wrong measurement though. A completely electric car
has an infinite MPG. A better measure would be cost/distance. Because
electricity is cheaper to produce than gas, the Plug-In is about a quarter
to a third the cost of gas/petrol over the same distance.
Actually, if you charge your PHEV during the night, when electric rates are
especially low, the cost could be as low as 2 cents/miles, although 4
cents/mile is more reasonable.
> Even more than that, Toyota just announced today that it will also bef=/c/a/2008/07/07/BUFO11L7FO.DTL
> offering the next logical step: a solar-powered PHEV version of the Prius:
...
> In a normal commute situation, where the car sits in a parking lot all
> a trickle charge integrated over a day's charging likely means the commute
> home could be free (no gasoline, no external electricity), depending on
> size of the solar array placed on the car's upper surfaces.
In the articles I have found relating to this story, the solar panels are
not advertised for mileage but are meant to add to other features like air
conditioning, small fans, etc. That's not to say that it couldn't provide a
small boost to the range of a trip but that wasn't the impression I got from
the articles. Here's one example:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?
...
Toyota Motor Corp. plans to stick solar panels on some models of its popular
Prius hybrid car, according to news reports Monday. The panels, made by
Kyocera, would help power the air conditioner.
Toyota is simply being conservative. In business of technology, it is never wise
to overpromise anyone about anything, and Toyota is certainly not promising
more than can be delivered. However, they're also being more conservative
than is physically possible. Here's a YouTube Los Angeles news video clip of a
small company that already converts standard Priuses into solar-powered
Priuses:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=9Jsqf5CEUI0#
While it is true that the *instantaneous* power available from the solar panels
is only enough to run an auxiliary system such as an air conditioner
continuously, a parked car trickle charging all day in a parking lot will
accumulate sufficient power to get you home in the evening at absolutely no
cost, provided you don't live that far away or drive at full highway speeds, but
that's going to be true for a lot of people. It certainly was for me when I
taught at the university.
These small charges, constantly renewed, will make a dramatic difference in
overall mileage. The Solar Prius shown in the newsclip is not a PHEV, but if it
were, and it were also charged overnight at the lowest possible rates, two
extraordinary benefits would accrue: gasoline use would fall to virtually zero,
except when in intercity travel, and the costs per mile would be perhaps
1/10th of what you're paying now, at no sacrifice in comfort, safety or speed.
Toyota knows all of this is possible, and I'm sure that they're going to make it
happen.
Wirt Atmar
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