The 2011 Very Hot Car Automotive X Prize

June 15, 2011 10:21 PM

The 2011 Very Hot Car Automotive X Prize
Global warming... friend or foe? It's Arizona. Summertime. The temperature is 115°. Inside your car, it's even hotter. The steering wheel sears your fingertips. The air burns your throat. This is a classic probletunity. We can harness that heat energy!

... but for what? We have no idea...

Awarded 9/10/11, The 2011 Very Hot Car Automotive X Prize goes the best new idea in uses for cars heated in the summer sun.

Role: Provacateur

posted by ph00dz (1 comment total)

Just so you know, the latest gen Prius has a solar roof option that keeps the car cool (fans only I believe). The main issue with this project, and the reason the Prius' feature is pretty limited, is simple thermodynamics -- capturing that heat efficiently and in such a way that you get a tangible difference in temperature is very, very difficult. Check out solar thermal collectors -- there's some hard numbers in the Wikipedia article on collector efficiency.
posted by spiderskull at 12:51 AM on June 17, 2011