TNGA more aluminum?

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Main Forum' started by goldfinger, Jun 8, 2014.

  1. goldfinger

    goldfinger Active Member

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    Will the "Toyota New Global Architecture" (TNGA) use more aluminum? It seems cost prohibitive to me, but Ford pulled it off on their F150.
     
    #1 goldfinger, Jun 8, 2014
  2. iplug

    iplug Senior Member

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    #2 iplug, Jun 13, 2014
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  3. GregP507

    GregP507 Senior Member

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    Range Rover and Ford have adopted it to name a few. Based on all the rusting problems in the past, the extra cost seems to justify it. It seems more than appropriate for the Prius, to save weight. Mine has an aluminum hood.
     
    #3 GregP507, Jul 10, 2014
  4. GregP507

    GregP507 Senior Member

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    I'm not sold on the technology, and I think it's still in early development, so the final form is still mostly unknown. It seems like it can give a car a greater range, but it's unclear if the concept car was running a tiny motor or a larger one. A tiny gasoline engine could also give the car an impressive range on a track.

    Since the battery isn't rechargeable, it would have to be removed and replaced with a new one fairly often. Since "half the energy output is electricity, and the other half is heat," it's not much more desirable in comparison to gasoline. It's unclear how large the battery would be needed in comparison to a gas tank, but it seems like it would have to be large to accommodate the reactor and controls. Research and development may solve all these problems, but in the meantime, I think lithium and nickel-based cells are doing a reasonable job.
     
    #4 GregP507, Jul 10, 2014
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  5. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    It's possible but it has to be scaleable. Our 2002 Camry had an aluminium hood, bootlid, doors and some front suspension bits. The Gen 6 Camry (2007-2011) dropped the aluminium in the bootlid and it was noticeable that there was more heft to it. I don't know about the doors. It also made the Camry heavier (among other things that added weight to the base Camry). Our 2002 Camry XLE weighed in at 1,500kg (before options that added leather and heated front seats). A base 2007 Camry LE weighed in at 1,500kg.
     
    #5 Tideland Prius, Jul 10, 2014
  6. drash

    drash Senior Member

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    The way I read it, this primary battery feeds the lithium ion battery already in the car which provides a Volt like 30+ miles. It's more of a competition to fuel cell cars than any pure EV. What would be interesting is to find out how much energy and GHG is required to recycle the aluminum in the battery versus hydrogen production. Since its basically a flow battery it provides a steady but slow amount of electricity to the secondary battery to keep it recharged much like the gas engine in the BMW i3.


    iPad ? HD
     
    #6 drash, Jul 11, 2014
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