The Next Prius Will Have Solar Panel
With the gasoline price soaring. The Toyota Prius is selling like hot cake. In Southern California, the waiting is about 6 months to get a new one from the dealership. (I am confident the Prius is more desirable than the iPhone 3G right now!)
The Nikkei business daily in Japan is reporting that the next generation Prius – due out in 2009 as a 2010 model – will supposedly be fitted with solar panels to power a variety of electrical accessories, including the air conditioning. This would be a first on a production vehicle offered by a major automaker. It is still not sure if Toyota will offer an all plug-in car in its eco-friendly line-up. We hope by that time next year solar panel on your mobile phone will be rolling out as well
[Via AutoBlogGreen]
Hmmm? But the Prius isn´t that economical. Interesting clip here of the Prius vs. BMW M3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PP6fe6i1vaY
For the record, my 1992 Mazda 929 had a solar panel in the sunroof. Talk about being ahead of its time. As far as I could tell, its sole (solar?) purpose was to run a small fan when the engine was off; this prevented the dreaded getting-into-a-parked-car-on-a-hot-day syndrome. It was notably cooler than most cars left out in the sun.
(Posted on behalf of Deborah/ SolSie)