2008 Prius

'08 Prius? Maybe drive itself, :lol: . Might check with Toyota,but I don't think they would let you see it.

 

Tee-hee! But seriously, why would Toyota want to saddle itself with that load of baggage? Hmm... we can imagine the Feds saying to hell with the WTO, and requiring foreign carmakers to take on GM's liabilities as a condition for doing business here.

 

Hm. i like the little car/leaf logo. I hope they keep it.

 

^ Agreed...though I really like the HSD logo too. I'd like to get a decal of that without the words on it. 'Specially since the blue of the river matches my car color.

As for the 2008 Prius, I think it'll look the same, but shinier. Everything in the future will be shinier.

 

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It looks like the Pilsbury Doughboy signalling a touchdown.

I wonder if Toyota will introduce that feature where the car parks itself in NA?

 

If I can dream a little bit (beyond 2008), I would hope that gasoline-electric hybrids will have become mainstream and captured about 50% of the US domestic market for new vehicles, and my 2005 Prius will start looking decidedly old school. In trying to keep the Prius name for progressive vehicles, Toyota by 2010 or 2012 will reverse their "it never needs to be plugged in" mantra and introduce a new Prius with a plug-in hybrid option that keeps a gasoline engine only for reserve power (sort of like the inverse of Honda's current IMA) and to charge the battery if no wall outlet is convenient. Toyota will thus make what some "hardware hackers" and University researchers are doing today available for the average, less technically inclined yet progressively thinking person. Mileage figures of 100-150MPG will become a reality. Then, as some cars today have black roofs contrasting with whatever color the body is, mainly to incorporate some trick sunroof, the Prius will have solar panels on the roof to top off the battery pack during the daytime, more on sunny days and still some on overcast days. Trips to the gas station will turn from a bi-weekly to a quarterly event.

To answer complaints about painful joints and shins of their drivers, by 2015 Toyota will make a telescoping steering wheel and height adjustable seat an option for the Prius.

Other features that will be either standard or optional on a US market Prius will be the EV mode switch, Intelligent Parking Assist, Line-in jack and iPod interface for the stereo, adaptive cruise control, a NAV system that gets its updates via satellite and stores the database in flash RAM, as well as a convenient place to hang fuzzy-dice and synthetic beaver tails, which inexplicably will become wildly fashionable again.

 

The 2008 Prius will not use any gas, it will produce it!
:lolup:
How about a Prius with photovoltaic paint and photovoltaic glass, to aid in recharging the battery. Ok, I don't mind the plug-in hybrid idea, but that really only moves the problem from the car to the electircity producer. If a plug in, then maybe one for which one can use an off-grid PV panel system for charging, and once you buy that argument, why not take that system on the road, hence the PV paint and glass idea.
Now THAT would be cool!
:crazyeyes:

 

Maybe plug your house into the Prius?

Or pull into a station and plug the station into the Prius, then pull away with your cash?

:mrgreen:

 

Maybe something like this?

[Broken External Image]:http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/ecotech/ufe32.jpg

(was discussed here)

The next generation Prius will almost certainly have a plug-in option - gas prices by then will mean people demanding it.