http://autos.yahoo.com/auto-shows/de...-boasts-50-mpg


2010 Toyota PriusDETROIT – Toyota Motor Corp.'s sleeker, more fuel-efficient update to its iconic Prius goes on sale this spring in a market growing more crowded with competing hybrids and battered by the global financial crisis.



But the Japanese automaker's executives are confident that the third-generation gas- electric Prius, which promises a city-highway average of 50 miles to the gallon, will maintain its spot as the top-selling hybrid in the U.S.



"Since Prius was first introduced, the consumer demographic has shifted from an early adopter to a mainstream shopper," Bob Carter, Toyota Division group vice president and general manager, told reporters at a news conference unveiling the 2010 Prius midsize sedan at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.



"The Prius has evolved to meet the changing needs of this growing and diverse customer base."



The highly anticipated 2010 Prius boasts a 4 mpg improvement over the current model, which already is the most fuel-efficient vehicle ranked by the Environmental Protection Agency. When the Prius first was sold in the U.S. in 2000, it got 41 mpg. The 2010 version shown in Detroit will be sold in 80 countries.



Automakers are using the Detroit auto show to spotlight more fuel-efficient vehicles, including hybrids. The new Prius debuted a day after Honda unveiled its next-generation hybrid, the 2010 Insight, which will arrive in U.S. showrooms this April and is expected to compete head-on with the Prius.



Honda Motor Co. said the Insight will have a lower price than the Civic Hybrid, which has a base price of $23,650. Toyota says pricing for the 2010 Prius be released shortly before it goes on sale. The 2009 version of the Prius starts at $22,000.



Jesse Toprak, executive director of industry analysis for the Edmunds.com automotive Web site, said the Insight represents a big competitor for Toyota in the hybrid car market that likely will undercut the Prius on price. How Toyota prices the Prius and compares it to the Insight, he said, will be key.



"The new Insight is a direct competitor for Prius," Toprak said. "Toyota used to have a monopoly in the marketplace."



Jim Lentz, president of Toyota Motor Sales USA, told The Associated Press in an interview Monday before the unveiling that he expects the Insight will appeal to buyers focused on its low price, but Prius will draw drivers looking for a slightly larger vehicle and Toyota's technology.



"It's going to be a very good car," Lentz said of the Insight. But, he added: "I think they're very different vehicles."



Also Sunday, Toyota's Lexus luxury arm unveiled a new hybrid sedan called the HS250h, and Ford Motor Co. showed off the 2010 Fusion Hybrid that will get 41 city mpg and 36 mpg on highways. The Fusion was unveiled in November and goes on sale this spring.



The debuts come as hybrid sales have tumbled. Gas-electric cars sold briskly as gas prices peaked last summer but have since come down sharply as fuel prices collapsed to their lowest levels in six years. Toyota expects gas prices to stabilize at a higher level, boosting long-term demand for hybrids.



Prius sales fell 45 percent in December, but Toyota says the new Prius will help increase demand for the car — including by current owners who want to upgrade.



Last month, Toyota said it was shelving its plans to build the Prius in Mississippi amid the industrywide downturn. Toyota's plant under construction in Blue Springs, Miss., was scheduled to begin production in 2010, marking the first time the Prius would be built outside of Japan and China.



Toyota had invested $300 million in the plant before saying it was delaying production there indefinitely. Lentz said Monday that Toyota plans to finish the shell of the plant, but there's no update on whether production of the Prius or another Toyota vehicle will take place in Blue Springs.



The new Prius has a more aerodynamic design, but its exterior is easily recognizable as a Prius. It has a larger and more powerful 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine, which Toyota says helps improve fuel economy on the highway.



Toyota also will offer options such as a moonroof with solar panels to power the ventilation system. The system uses an electrically powered air circulation fan that doesn't need the engine to work. It prevents the interior air temperature from rising while the vehicle is parked.



The ventilation system also can be remotely operated, so drivers can adjust the interior temperature before getting inside. Toyota says this remote air conditioning system is an industry first.

 

Toyota is NOT the first automaker worldwide to add solar panels to a production car. A Norwegian company sells a fully electric car with solar panels on the roof. There was a post about it a while back. IIRC it was called the Think.

 

Mazda did it with the 929 back in '93.

 

Aside from the fact that its not an industry first - it is merely an air circulator - and knowing how fast black cars heat up - I doubt it'd even keep a black one from going above ambient in full sunlight.

But it is *not* a remote "air conditioning" system.

 

Yeah this sounds to me like a bit of a gimmick. Sure it's functional in theory but my guess is it's done more for the fact that they can say "hey we have solar panels, we sure are innovative and industry leading!". Then again I'm sure the solar panels on the Volt are no better or done for any other reason so it's not like you can be critical of Toyota for this without being critical of GM.

Are you sure? I thought I read somewhere that the A/C system was run off electricity rather than the traditional belt-driven compressor on the engine.

Regardless I'm sure if it can circulate air even a little bit it will help tremendously with the crazy internal temps that can be seen by cars parked in the sun... especially darker ones.

 

I was hoping that the panels would provide a trickle charge to the battery. Leave it in the parking lot at work all day in the summer, and get a few extra miles for free.

 

Move to the southwest. I gurantee an electric fan moving air in the car wil make a tremendous difference. When i start up my car in summer here I drive the first 1/2 mile or so with the windows down. If I do'nt the A/C will take 20+ minutes of highway driving to cool the car off.

 

I don't have all the numbers/math in front of me but from what I've read 8 hours in full sun on a panel the size of car roof will get you enough power to maybe get out of a small parking lot.

 

Oh believe me, I flog *anyone* putting solar panels on the roof of a car that claims it is more than it is. My *big* beef is that Toyota called it a "remote air conditioning system" - which people will read as that the air conditioning system is running and powered by solar panels. Clearly that makes them amazing and awesome.

But calling it a "circulation fan" at one point and an "air conditioning system" at another is massive gimmick marketing spin. The cells aren't even at a good angle for sunlight.

In Upstate NY I left the windows on my black talon half open and the moonroof fully open during the summer. It still got scalding hot in there. I would assume it only gets worse in the southwest. I know how much it helps to get those fans running and windows down.

 

A few years ago it was so hot here in the summer that the entire back window of my Caprice just shattered! My Dad drove the car to work that day and parked it out in front of his office. The window did have "limo" tint which probably reflected heat back into the glass, but that held it together. The same place did the tint after we replaced that window and that was probably 7-8 years ago.

 

Better than nothing...

 

why is this an industry-first? There have been cars with this feature for at least 10 years, where the sunroof is actually a solar panel that powers the fan.

Watch the treehuggers do a circle jerk about how awesome Toyota is, all the while being in ignorance that this technology is a decade old.

 

I could have sworn the Audi had this feature.. maybe the late 90's A8 I think...

 

Yes, they did have that, even A6, but mainly California edition. That was available in the late 1990s.

 

Strangely, success of the new Prius might hinge upon geopolitical events. Americans are generally opposed to the kinds of gas tax hikes needed to make hybrids a compelling case again for regular buyers. Russia's trying their darnedest to start a big hoop-de-do with Ukraine over natural gas... only if they manage to make a big crisis by 'intervening' there will we have any kind of other push on oil prices again soon. Without some kind of big new spike in pump prices, Prius sales are just going to limp along.

One other side issue, JM02... kind of looks like they 'uglified' the new Prius. They lost some of the 'cute' factor from the looks, with the new design, IMAO....

And the final new issue complicating prospects for the new Prius - their competition is catching up fast... eg, new offerings from Honda and Ford.