Filling up with sunshine

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A solar-powered car from the land of the rising sun?

It could happen someday. Toyota Motor Corp., Japan’s biggest automaker, is secretly developing a car powered by electricity generated by solar cells mounted on the vehicle, the Nikkei newspaper, a leading Japanese business publication, reported today, according to the Associated Press.

Initially, the vehicle-mounted solar cells would provide only some of the power for the vehicle’s batteries, which would still have to be recharged using an outside source of electricity, Nikkei reported.

Toyota’s goal is to eventually power the vehicle solely with electricity from vehicle-mounted cells.
The report said it would be years before Toyota could bring a sun-powered vehicle to market. The automaker, which last week said it would report its first operating loss in 70 years amid a global slump in new-vehicle sales, is banking on new technologies to spur growth, the report said.

The report didn’t cite sources and Toyota executives were unavailable for comment. However, the company is in a race with carmakers big and small to develop powertrain technologies that go beyond current-generation gasoline-electric hybrids such as the Toyota Prius and the Chevy Malibu hybrid.

The electric motor in the third-generation Prius, due to be unveiled formally at the Detroit auto show later this month, will be powered by a nickel-metal-hydride battery, just like the current model. However, Toyota and several other automakers are working on plug-in hybrids that would use more advanced lithium-ion batteries. Nissan, meanwhile, is developing an all-electric car and Toyota is expected to unveil a compact electric vehicle concept at the Detroit show.

Toyota executives have hinted recently that they are thinking ‘beyond lithium-ion’ in their quest to develop alternatives to gasoline engines. And the company’s efforts to harness power from the sun could get a boost when Panasonic Corp., Toyota’s partner in high-tech battery production, completes its planned takeover of Sanyo Electric Co., a leader in solar technology.

Although Toyota has enjoyed a green image with its leadership in the sale of fuel-efficient hybrids, it has also been criticized for pushing big, gas-guzzling pickup trucks and SUVs. Making advances in powering a vehicle with solar energy would certainly burnish the automaker’s image with environmentalists.

The idea of using solar energy to power cars received a lot of attention last month when Swiss engineer Louis Palmer pulled up at the U.N. climate conference in Poland in a solar-powered car, having just completed a 17-month, 32,000-mile trip around the globe.

Although it was highly publicized, the vehicle isn’t quite ready for prime time -- or rush hour on the 405, for that matter. A two-seater, the car had only three wheels and drew its power from batteries charged by solar cells mounted on a trailer towed behind the car. It does, however, get a respectable 185 miles on a single charge and has a top speed of 55 mph.

-- Martin Zimmerman

Photo (top): Louis Palmer’s solar car at the U.N. climate conference in Poznan, Poland, last month. Credit: AFP /Getty Images

Photo (bottom): Protesters at the climate conference. Credit: Associated Press