Is Gen 5 Prius really better-looking than Gen 4 Prius Prime?

Upper trim Prius have that double laminated glass on the front side windows. Does the car unlock the doors and roll down the window in the event of a crash? If not, the traditional handle isn't going to be anymore help that a flush one.

 

Even tinted windows is enough to slowdown first responders.

 

No doubt it will run hotter, to match those looks . But in all seriousness, it can be mitigated with ceramic tint. So not really an issue for cabin comfort IMO. Does that heat have a significant impact on thermal/engine efficiency? Unsure, but probably unlikely?

 

Interesting, thanks for sharing! Albeit, I wouldn’t call it “considerably more efficient”.

Just to be clear, this is a direct quote from the cited study:

“Selecting a typical white or silver shell (ρ = 0.60) instead of a black shell would lower fuel consumption by 0.21 L per 100 km (1.9%), raising fuel economy by 0.19 km L−1 [0.44 mpg] (2.0%).”

And again, ceramic tint can help migrate this other finding from the study:

“Soak air temperature in cool (solar-reflective) silver compact sedan is 5–6 °C lower than in otherwise identical black car. ► Silver (or white) car requires 13% less air conditioning (AC) capacity to cool cabin air to 25 °C.”