Sunroof on a hybrid

The 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid will offer a sunroof as an option.

On the upcoming Toyota Highlander Hybrid, the Limited edition comes standard with a sunroof. To get a sunroof on the base model, you have to get the option package.

Rather than a sunroof -- how about a solar roof? You could fit about an 80w solar panel in the area used by a sunroof. Charging the batteries passively while your car is parked in the sun would greatly improve gas mileage on a hybrid. Even a 20 watt panel over the course of a work day would provide significant charging power.

I'll second the "no-sunroof-is-the-only-thing-that-keeps-me-from-buying-one" motion. I just got my first look at the new Civic hybrid online - finally, a nice, normal-looking sporty hybrid car. It actually looks like a fun car to drive, but again, Honda f***s it up by not making a sunroof an option. I don't want to have to buy an SUV or a $30,000 Accord to have hybrid power *and* a sunroof!

*sighs*

I guess I'll just stick with my gasoline-powered sunroof-equipped sedan for now...

so sad that sunroofs aren't part of the standard pkgs. a sliding solar panel couldn't make more green sense! what the heck? I love the Prius so much and have a deposit down on one, but I so REALLY love the double sunroofs in my Subaru Legacy that I am forcing myself to wait to buy the Prius until a sun roof or better, sliding solar panel comes avail!

My RX400h has a sunroof as standard equipment. I use it frequently.

Driving around the San Francisco Bay area a few days, I saw a Honda Civic Hybrid with a sunroof. Must have been an after-market add-on.

Roof, the Renewable Energy Access website you mention has a comments section which discusses the roof-mounted solar cells as being a fraud. For an investment of over $2000, they generate 1/25 horsepower, which is utterly insignificant.

The sunroof, on the smaller cars such as the Prius ad civic, which I have recently purchased, will sacrifice the structural integrity of the vehicle and thus safety features won't be nearly as effective, i.e. side curtain airbags, crumple zones. A sun roof has always been a "must have" feature for me, but the sacrifice is well worth it. My advice is if you want sun so badly, go for a walk.

hi,

i'm waiting too! this is the car i'm waiting for:

1. hybrid
2. lightweight with good mpg, and also qualifying for stickers for carpool lane
3. sunroof
4. high safety ratings

until then my safe honda accord with sunroof will do me fine.

:-)

Attention Honda: Waiting to purchase Civic Hybrid till it is offered with a sunroof

Lilly,

Don't underestimate the horsepower of a hybrid - they're a different kind of beast altogether. A hybrid can have better performance than a pure gasoline engine even if it's rated horsepower is lower.

Remember, an ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) like a traditional gasoline engine, only produces the maximum horsepower at a certain engine speed (RPM's) while an electric motor can produce its maximum horsepower at nearly any speed up to a point. Therefore, the traditional HP ratings don't apply to the performance of a hybrid since much of the acceleration performance is handled by the electric motor, not the ICE. The '06 HCH is rated at:

- 110 hp at 6000 RPM for the ICE
- 20 hp from 0 - max RPM

What this really means is that when the car is starting from a stop and the engine is running slowly, you only really are getting maybe 10 or 15 hp from the ICE while the electric is providing 20 hp for a total of maybe 30 to 35 total hp. A 140 hp pure gasoline ICE may only be producing 15 or 20 hp when starting up.

Your effective performance then while accelerating will probably be better with the hybrid even though it looks like it only has 110 + 20 = 130 hp.

Your concern about a manual transmission is interesting as well. My wife drives the '03 HCH purely because is it the only hybrid 5 seater with a manual transmission so I understand your concern. From a technical perspective, hybrids really shouldn't even have a transmission since the electric motor can be designed to obviate the transmission - but that would put the transmission division out of work so it isn't likely to wind a design at a car company. However, the electric drive does enable the "'holy grail' of the transmission engineer - the CVT to work well so in trade for putting in the electric motor, the cost seems to have been to allow the transmission divisions to put in their pet project.

I'm afraid that we'll probably never see another hybrid with a manual transmission and the old HCH and Insight don't have sunroofs.

You might want to consider restructuring your requirements or you won't be able to take advantage of some awesome automotive advances. The pure electric super-cars don't have any transmission and they can accelerate faster than nearly all other supercars including Viper, Ferari, Lamborghini, etc (http://www.pluginamerica.com/media/Wrightspeed.wmv), (http://www.venturi.fr).

There is, of course, no excuse for not offering a sunroof however.

We just bought a Prius. It had no sunroof wich bothered me very much so I hired a man who said he knew how to install them that I met at Starbucks. When I went to pick up our new #8 Prius I discovered that Jeb, the installer, had used a saw-zaw/ hack saw to cut an irregularly sqare hole in the roof and used some type of epoxy or silicone to install a flexible piece of plexiglass on the roof which will not open.

I just about lost my lunch when I saw this.

Now after driving our new Prius for a couple of months, scratches have built up and the sun has caused it ot turn somewhat yellow now as well as it tends to sag in the middle. In the summer I have a stick braced on the floor to the sunroof to hold the sagging plexiglass up. (My wife hates this part but I don't care.)

My wife is angry over what I did to the car and especially the fact that the shape of the sunroof hole is somewhat of a jagged trapazoid shape.

My Question to Toyota... On such a popular car, why would you not ad something that most sun loving people like... a SUNROOF?!?!

I have heard from plant workers that the 2007 Prius model will will feature a double panel/length Sunroof option under options #7, #8, and a new #9 option plan. So if you absolutely need that sunroof you may hold out for the 2007 Prius with a sunroof.

While driving the insane roads of LA today, I spotted a STRETCHED PRIUS limo! How many batteries I wondered does it take to power a Prius limo.

Now thats electric, eclectic luxury!
Oh those envirementalist movie stars!

Oh... and of course, yes it had a sunroof.

I was also interested in putting some solar power to work on my Prius and found some solar panels that one plugs into the "cigarette lighter" electical connector to charge the battery when the car is parked.
I ditched the idea when I read that the hybrid is set up to keep batteries between 40-60% charged to ensure battery longevity.
Does anyone know what effect one of these would have on the battery - and would it make a difference in my mileage?

On the discussion regarding manual transmissions and hybrids, it should be noted that there are a plethora of systems that are now under study and development by many manufacturers such as ZF, Bosch, Siemens, Marelli, Aisin, etc.. I recently read an extensive article in the german car magazine "Auto motor & Sport" which was discussing some 8 or 9 different systems which would provide different levels of hybridization. An interesting item was the double clutch split by a starter/flywheel which is in effect an electro-motor that can provide power during acceleration and stop and go traffic, but would function as a generator when the vehicle needs slowing down thus regenerating energy. That design, can then be coupled to any kind of transmission with fairly little modification. There were many other ones, but hybridization in Europe, is being done a bit differently than here. They indicated in the article that for a while Europeans looked at this technology a bit skeptically initially, now quite a bit of research is being undertaken but component suppliers but also manufacturers such as Daimler Chrysler, VAG group, even BMW. In most cases, though it seems they are maintaining the basic designs engine+ transmission configuration with an additional hybrid drive.

I imagine hybridization is taking a somewhat different form of development in Europe because of the relatively higher highway speeds where battery weight is a big impediment.

There's no way it really took you two months to figure that out. ;-)

But I definitely agree with everyone that says hybrids should be available with sunroofs. Withholding that option is a bad business decision in my opinion...

>>A sunroof, just like any open window increases the drag coefficient. More drag means lower gas mileage and that's not what the hybrid is after.

So?? Most people that want them are probably willing to sacrifice a few mpg for it. Besides, a lot of other extras on modern cars add weight, also reducing mpg. Should we strip our cars of anything luxurious to maximize mpg?? I'll take my sunroof... I want to enjoy my ride.

I have the Accord hybrid. Opening it does decrease the mpg, but it sure is nice, at a price.