Senku: Mazda's Solar-Topped Hybrid Concept Car
by Justin Thomas, Virginia on 10. 7.05

Mazda will be displaying five new vehicles for the Tokyo Auto Show, three of which will be hybrids. One of them will be the Senku hybrid car, which is based on Mazda's RX-8. It will feature "flying wing" doors and, more interestingly, it will include solar cells that are embedded in the roof, according to AutoWeek. Apparently, the solar cells will be used to help keep the hybrid batteries charged. The name means "pioneer" in Japanese.


















This reminds me of the Mazda 929 that had a solar-powered fan to vent the car on hot days.
Hm. Wonder how easy it is to make those doors work after an accident when you need to get the hell out of the car.
My hunch: "Flying wing" doors is a sexy marketing term for same-doors-you-find-on-vans.
Such doors often appear on concepts and "show" cars, but rarely on production models for obvious reasons.
Even the Toyota Yaris had a gullwing door version at Frankfurt..
I have a 2-door sports coup and I for one think the sliding doors are a great, practical concept. too often to I get back to my car to find someone parked too close up against me. Because the doors are close to 5 feet long, Its sometimes difficult to swing the door far enough out to have enough room to get into the car.
will they ever use those doors on a production model... probably not, but its good to see more 2-door designed cars coming onto the market.
Sexy. I want.
The new Peugeot 1007 has those doors (as well as being a treehugging car [not in a sideways cornering- accident sense]....)
They retract along rails which also comprise a styling feature, quite a groovy looking car
Instead of suicide doors, we could call these murder doors! Who would want to be on the receiving end of someone swinging that thing open? Ouch! Solar cells, great... (wow) but this is like Cadi fins on a rail gun. Maybe Mazda is also working on the population bomb. Looks cool, but totally worthless in the real world, like three wheeled cars!
HEY! as an urban bicycle reactionary: i gotta say that any door that makes it impossible for unconscious sleep-drivers to open their door into oncoming 2-wheeled vehicles- is allright by me!
ps: pack a hammer in your glovecompartment in case of emergency break glass
These doors are not really that new or dangerous. (except the pointy end in the back that may be near eye level) Doors with this mechinism are on almost every mini-van out there. If you have used one before they are certainly easy to get out of in a tight spot.
No reason with a small redesign that those doors couldn't have a nice, non sharp curve at the top. It would make it easier to get into a car without bumping your neighbors car.
Are you all blind. It's not the same with the vans. Its not possible because there is space behind the door to use the mechanism at vans. I think there is a bar in the car holding that door..
Mazda has been inspired by ( read: copied) the idea of USA Icon Mr. Steven Letendre Phd . Dr. Letendre wrote a paper about "vehicle integrated photovoltaic technology" ( VIPV ).
I saw this car in the Toronto Star, and I have to admit it's a GREAT visual, attention grabbing design. Very hot. And finally a really sexy treehugger car! So how are these doors attached....?
So cool looking from the side!