http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/ Engadget Comments for http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2010 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/Jan 13th 2009 11:29AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/Jan 13th 2009 11:35AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_EV1 ) dumbass?]]>Jan 13th 2009 9:53PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/Jan 14th 2009 5:51PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/
It will be years before we see an all electric car. Nobody wants to build the infrastructure...

Seems like this car could of been much more, and i think the solar panels should of been standard.]]>Jan 13th 2009 11:28AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/
Toyota sure knows how to market and sell something that doesn't provide much improvement over existing technology.]]>Jan 13th 2009 11:32AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/
Until the ability to produce and store electricity gets cheaper and more efficient - this seems to be the best model.

Solar panels could be standard, but they produce very little electricity and of course, increase the price.]]>Jan 13th 2009 11:33AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/Jan 13th 2009 11:35AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/
Oh i know, its such a travesty...i SHOULD OF killed myself when i had the chance, bad grammar is unacceptable.]]>Jan 13th 2009 11:46AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/
All this talk about hydrogen highways and such are nonsense. Not only are they completely impractical and unfeasible, but hydrogen fuel is going to rely on oil to supply the energy anyway. It might reduce overall emissions, but does not change the energy source. Plus you're going to have gas station around for a long time to service existing automobiles.

A series hybrid is the only practical solution before improved battery technology enables electric-only cars to be practical in the next 15-20 years. By that point, hopefully most new cars being sold will be series hybrids anyway, which means 90% of driving miles of these cars will already be powered by electricity and not gasoline.

]]>Jan 13th 2009 11:47AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/Jan 13th 2009 11:48AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/
http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/11/video-toyota-unveils-ft-ev-concept-details-plug-in-prius-you/]]>Jan 13th 2009 11:56AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/
Seriously? Would driving an SUV that gets 15MPG be better for the environment?

2009 EPA estimates:
Prius 46MPG
Civic 29MPG
Trailblazer 2WD 16MPG

This means ONE Prius owner vs Trailblazer owner saves 14 barrels (or 620 gallons) of oil from being shipped from the middle east every year. Or 4.4 barrels (185 gallons) vs the "economical" Honda. There are so many saving for the planet besides that one fact.

I like the look of the current Prius and this one. If it wasn't a sedan or was way out my price range, I'd own one.]]>Jan 13th 2009 12:02PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/Jan 13th 2009 12:09PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/
Canadians have to walk or bike.

Actually that brings up a good point if you don't own a garage, eh?]]>Jan 13th 2009 12:46PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/
You see, Prius batteries are Lead Acid. The Lead is mined in Canada and shipped to China. The batteries are made in China and shipped to Japan. The car is made in Japan and shipped to the USA. The driver in the USA drives the car for 4-7 years before the batteries are shot. The batteries are then discarded and shipped BACK to China for "recycling" or as they say it, "dumping the toxic chemicals in to rivers and lakes". All the while MORE lead is mined in Canada, shipped to China, then to Japan, then to the USA as replacement batteries.

Due to the excess chemistry involved, I saw on 'Ecopolis' that the Toyota Prius has DOUBLE the carbon footprint of a Range Rover over 10 years. D O U B L E. Range Rovers get 11mpg. You do the math.

The Prius is a POS, and equipped with features a nice car comes with it costs $30k. They need to switch to LiPoly battery technology, but they REFUSE. Don't support the Prius.]]>Jan 13th 2009 2:02PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/Why are you bothering to spread such ridiculous misinformation when anyone can go to wikipedia and find the truth. The current Prius doesn't use a lead-acid battery for the main drive unit:

"The new Hybrid Synergy Drive (HSD) uses an all-electric compressor for cooling. Combined with a smaller and lighter NiMH battery, the NHW20 is more powerful and more efficient than the NHW11.[17] Air conditioning is now operated independently of the gasoline engine, an industry first.[18] In the U.S., the battery pack of the 2004 Prius is warranted for 100,000 miles (160,000 km) or 8 years[19]. The warranty in California is 150,000 miles (240,000 km) or 10 years for the Prius and in the seven Northeastern states that have adopted the stricter California emission control standards."

Get your facts straight.]]>Jan 13th 2009 2:26PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/
To the OP and everyone else who doubts the viability of electric cars as a solution, take a look here:

http://www.betterplace.com/

They are building an entire electric-car charging infrastructure in Israel and Hawaii among elsewhere, you pay for the "gas" like you do cellphone minutes, i.e. pay for a certain number of miles, and can get a "full tank" of sorts by driving into an automated facility where the empty battery is swapped out for a full one in less time that it takes to fill a gas car's tank today.]]>Jan 13th 2009 2:38PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/06/23/suckers-pbs-falls-for-debunked-prius-hummer-story/
]]>Jan 13th 2009 4:17PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/Jan 13th 2009 4:33PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/
"This means ONE Prius owner vs Trailblazer owner saves 14 barrels (or 620 gallons) of oil from being shipped from the middle east every year."

Actually, we now get 16% of our oil from the Persian Gulf (down from 20% in 2002) and less than 50% from OPEC countries. So, this is more like 3 barrels on a boat.

Source: http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/pet_move_impcus_a2_nus_ep00_im0_mbbl_a.htm]]>Jan 13th 2009 5:07PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/
Nuclear Power is green, it doesn't give off any green house gasses. In fact, scientists in Germany have found a way to use the nuclear waste produced to make more electricity! WOW

Wind power is green

Solar power is green

Even burning coal to make electricity for a whole town is better that burning gasoline in EVERY CAR.]]>Jan 13th 2009 9:22PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/
Ever heard of the Tesla Roadster? Or the Fisker Karma? Or the Chevy Volt? Or the ChryslerEV? Or even, from GM, in 1996 - The GM EV1? ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_EV1 )

These are all electric vehicles, made by American manufacturers.

Seriously...why bother commenting?

]]>Jan 13th 2009 9:59PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/
Taken from Top Gear:

"To make this as economical as possible, they [Toyota] go to the ends of the earth, quite literally. The nickel that they use to make the batteries to power the electric motor, that comes from a mine in Canada. Now, nickel mining is a filthy business, a lot of sulfur and acid rain, but no matter, they load it on an enormous cargo ship, send it to Europe, where its refined, and on to China, where its turned into a sort of foam, THEN to japan, where its put in the batteries into the car. Its so complicated in fact to make a Prius that a recent study found that in the long term, there's more environmental damage than a Land Rover Discovery.

I'm sorry, what did you have to say about the Prius saving the planet?]]>Jan 14th 2009 12:44PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/Mar 9th 2009 6:57PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/
Too bad Toyota left the Prius just as ugly as it was before.]]>Jan 13th 2009 11:29AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/Jan 13th 2009 11:32AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/
The cheapest way to mass produce hydrogen is through extracting it out of oil or other carbon based fuels.

Water is extremely expensive and energy wasting to extract hydrogen.

So the infrastructure will be built by the oil companies.]]>Jan 13th 2009 11:34AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/Jan 13th 2009 11:37AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/Jan 13th 2009 11:45AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/Jan 13th 2009 12:01PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/
Depending on where you live, now you get to pay awesome internet taxes for purchasing anything online. Taxes are the new piracy.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/156989/online_taxes.html?tk=rss_news
]]>Jan 13th 2009 1:25PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/
http://priuschat.com/forums/members/danny-albums-2010-toyota-prius-official-toyota-photos-picture947-45-10-prius.html

The new Prius will have a no-screen option (I guess to make it cheap).

Hard to believe people don't recognize that all-electric could have been here 20 years ago; the technology is already more than adequate and people don't recognize that we could all get by with a car that could only go 80 miles on a charge. True, I could never drive from San Francisco to Lake Tahoe in it; but 363 days out of the year I'm not driving to Tahoe anyway and those 80 miles will be enough.]]>Jan 13th 2009 1:30PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/Jan 13th 2009 11:31AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/Jan 13th 2009 11:33AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/Jan 13th 2009 11:37AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/Jan 13th 2009 11:35AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/Jan 13th 2009 11:46AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/Jan 13th 2009 11:59AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/Jan 13th 2009 12:10PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/Jan 13th 2009 5:17PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/Jan 13th 2009 11:32AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/
Prius, making three eyed fish a reality!]]>Jan 13th 2009 11:37AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/Jan 13th 2009 12:22PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/Jan 13th 2009 12:22PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/
Look, I'm certainly not foolish enough to think this car is somehow saving the world, or is really even that environmentally friendly, but I also don't understand why people have such a problem with it. Toyota set out to make a vehicle that increased MPG and lowered emissions and that's what they achieved. At the very least you can look at it as subsidizing the cost of this technology for you later down the road.]]>Jan 13th 2009 12:25PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/
You're a fool to think that gas will permanently be back to $5 a gallon for good in that little time. The reason gas is under $2 and lower a gallon right now is because the prospectors got way too greedy and caused it to rise to $4 a gallon. People stopped buying as a result and the whole thing collapsed on itself. That's why gas isn't $4 now. If it really NEEDED to be $4 due to its actually production costs, it still would be regardless of people not buying. But that $4 price was artificially high, not due to some shortage as the media/environmentalists would have you believe. Maybe if the prospectors get greedy again and it does hit $5 (for about a week until people get wise again), it will collapse under a $1 next time.]]>Jan 13th 2009 1:09PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/Jan 13th 2009 11:36AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/
http://www.aptera.com/index.php
]]>Jan 13th 2009 11:35AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/next-gen-prius-now-official-uses-solar-panels-to-keep-car-cool/Jan 13th 2009 11:58AM