Denmark's Toria 2001 Hybrid Solar Car Jan 19, 2004 – By Borge Christensen
The Toria Connector 2001 Solar Hybrid Car is equipped with an electric motor
and solar cells for short trips and a plant oil engine for the longer trips.
The prototype is constructed of plastics materials and consequently is
lighter than todays cars. The combination of low weight, less air resistance
and lower rolling resistance allows 5-8000 Km transportation on the harvested
solar energy.
The car is a 3+3 passenger caravan with measurements as a large sedan. It is
judged to be safer and more luxurious than a usual sedan. Most driving under
20 km/day is possible completely without pollution on solar cell energy. The
plant oil engine is used outside urban areas up to a top speed of 120Km/h.
Background and purpose:
Mankind's need for transport is focused around the car. Few other inventions
have had an equally pronounced effect on our technical and cultural
development. The demand for cars is large and rapidly growing. If all of
planet earths almost 6 billion people are going to use cars for
transportation we will face an enormous rise in pollution. It is obvious that
we must do something radical to the increasing pollution from cars. One way
of facing the problems is to turn to increasing use of renewable resources
such as wind, solar, plant oil etc.
One of the most attractive sources for our purpose are solar cells because
they may be mounted directly on top of the cars thus avoiding the losses that
would otherwise occur when you move energy from one place to another. As a
consequence of legal initiatives a global niece market for vehicles with low
or no pollution will emerge. But the customers will still demand a high level
of safety, good comfort and excellent economy. This could mean electrical
cars but their range is limited because the batteries are too large and too
heavy. Equipping the car with solar cells and a small plant oil engine makes
it possible to get away with fewer batteries and at the same time get range
and top speed as a usual car.
A development project with multiple supporters:
The solar hybrid car is a demonstration project developed by TORIA auto A/S
in Ebeltoft, Denmark and supported by a number of public boards, the board
for the environment, the board for industrial development, the energy board
and the board of transport. Several private companies and institutions have
rendered support in various ways. The prototype has been developed over a
period from March '96 until September '98.The work has partly been carried
out at TORIA and partly at sub-contractors, these occasionally having
sponsored the work. The work at TORIA has been coordinated by a full time
project engineer, Alastair M.H. Persson.
Many Engineering students at the Engineering High Schools in Sonderborg and
Arhus have contributed with theoretical investigations and a larger group of
students at the Technical University of Alborg has performed calculations on
the reinforced plastic body of the car.
Main conclusions:
>> 90% of all trips are shorter than 10 Km and it is especially on
these trips the conventional cars generate most of its pollution because it
seldom warms up sufficiently. Consequently large environmental premiums are
feasible by utilizing solar energy from solar cells directly mounted on the
cars.
>> The efficiency of solar cells is increasing and we can therefore
expect to go father and father. This fact and the decreasing prices on the
solar cells makes the perspectives for large environmental premiums within
the transport area very good.
Project conclusions:
>> It is realistic to exploit solar cells directly mounted on the cars
for powering cars, especially for covering energy for the shorter trips in
urban areas. This assumes that the cars are optimized for lowest possible
enrage consumption i.e. lowest possible weight, air resistance, rolling
resistance and transmission losses.
>> In order to utilize the car for longer trips and in order to heat it
in the cold season the most realistic option is to equip it with a small
internal combustion engine. Batteries suited for electric mode alone seem to
be too large, too heavy and too expensive today and in the immediate future
to present a real alternative.
>> The exploitation of modern plastic materials makes it possible to
build a car that is much lighter,more corrosion free and more safe than
todays cars. The materials used can give the car a lifetime of at least 20
years after which they can be reused in new items.
>> Although the solar cells essentially are flat it has been possible
to integrate about 6 m2 on the surface of the car without affecting the look
and the usability in a negative way.. The area of the solar cells dictates
that the car must have a certain size. However this proves out to cause
significant advantages for as well safety as comfort.
>> With the selected motors The Solar Hybrid Car will get performance
data largely comparable with today's conventional cars. Initial manufacturing
price will be somewhat higher than a conventional car. Over time and with
mass production and continuous falls in the solar cell prices the cost is
anticipated to fall to a level just above conventional cars.
The results of the project:
The car is designed with as low an air resistance as possible with the
limitations presented by the plane solar cells. Each panel of tempered glass
holds 10 monokrystalline solar cells with a 14% efficiency. The total of 49
panels has a gross power of 684 Watts at full sun. In the summer months one
may drive up to 30-40 Km per day on solar energy if one exploits it fully and
that one can drive only a few kilometers in the worst month. Excess power in
the summer time may be fed back to the power grid and thus be a source of
income. The batteries are sealed and maintenance free and they have capacity
enough to allow a complete charge on a normal workday when you park your car
at a sunny parking place. The condition of the batteries is monitored
continuously and a special charge equalizer assures that the batteries
maintain equal charges.
The car is built up of an entirely self-supported bottom section in a
reinforced sandwich plastic construction. To this is fixed a front section
roof and a rear lid in the same material. The front section is hinged out
front and may be swung forward thus allowing easy access till the electric
motor, the diesel engine, steering, gearbox and electronics. The car has
front wheel drive and the motors are coupled to the wheels via a special
developed automatic transmission. The suspension system is based on air with
integrated shock absorbers and height and angle may be adjusted. During
braking the braking energy may be sent back to the batteries. The car has a
large free height, the bottom is very slippery and the tires have a low
rolling resistance.
From a safety point of view the car has been constructed with very strong
side members and long deformation zones. During frontal collisions the
mechanical parts will be forced down under the strong sandwich bottom and
this will then glide up and over the opponent.
Future plans:
In the beginning of '99 a shareholding company was formed: TORIA auto A/S.
The mother group has transferred the prototype, tools and rights to the new
company without cash return. . We are in the process of collecting
shareholders for a production as soon as possible.
Denmark's Toria 2001 Hybrid Solar Car
