Toyota Solves Hybrid Problems In a Remarkably More CLever Way Than General Motors Does

Implications: In order to maximize the range of a hybrid or all electric car it is important to minimize the drain on the battery from any load but that of the drive train.

Analysis: Late in the design of the Chevrolet Volt, it is said around Detroit, it was remembered that ordinary drivers often run the air conditioning, lights, and personal entertainment equipment while driving, or stopped at a traffic light, or stopped for any other reason. This created a mild panic, because all of these devices could create enough drain on the mythical 40 mile range on a charge lithium ion battery to reduce its range dramatically.

Toyota decided to approach the problem another way, and upgrade the existing nickel metal hydride based Prius hybrid with a market-savvy 'green' technology. Toyota will add a photovoltaic solar cell option to its 2010 Prius, which will be able to run some of the electrical accessories during the day, and even when the car isn't running the solar panel will charge the battery so long as there is sunlight on it!

No matter how much the solar panel option costs it will not bring the cost of the nickel metal hydride battery based Prius to anywhere near the price of that Chevrolet will have to charge for the Volt, and it will at the same time increase the total range of the nickel metal hydride based Prius without the need for a single drop of gasoline or diesel fuel to be burned.

Amusingly enough these are the same Japanese engineers who the young Bob Lutz ignored, along with his peers, because the received wisdom in 1975 was that Japanese cars would never be a factor in the US domestic market.

It is still true, by the way,  that, as the Japanese planned, American cars would never be a factor in the Japanese domestic market.

I think that the first sign of sanity at GM if it is allowed to go CVhapter11 will be the retirement of Bob Lutz and Rick Wagoner and either the cancelation of the Volt or its immediate conversion to nickel metal hydride battery operation as a straight hybrid. Of course since GM hasn't got, nor has it any plans to get, a nickel metal hydride battery manufacturer capable of making a battery that works and making it in mass production.