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Jumping From Space into Your Suitcase-Stored Prius Apparently Possible Soon
Posted by Adam Frucci at 1:00 AM on August 14, 2008
Apparently, according to Toyota, in the next few years a new feature for the Prius will be that it can fold itself up into a suitcase. That's not all! It'll be able to be unfolded into a car while you're jumping from space. You can then get into your space Prius and land on one of those sky-based tube highways that I guess they're constructing somewhere. Sounds awesome! Wait, what?
In a Nikkei article set to publish Monday, it was revealed that Toyota has green lit plans to offer solar panels on its popular Prius hybrid vehicle. The solar panel option will be available on the high-end Prius model when it receives a redesign in 2009. Strangely, the Japanese business newspaper also reports that the power generated by the solar panels will be used for the air conditioning system. The solar panels are being manufactured by Kyocera Corp. Previously, Gizmodo has covered some 
A Toyota Prius outfitted with one of Lithium Technology Corporation's plug-in conversion kit exploded after the owner saw balls of fire in the backseat. Luckily the owner was smart enough to vacate the cars after seeing flames, but not smart enough to not drive the car even when its PHEV15 plug-n kit was experiencing "charger-related problems." Other than the fact that you should learn to be careful after installing aftermarket parts on your car, the only other thing we can take away from this story is to jump out of your vehicle when you see fire. [
Here's a simple, compelling argument we read in Wired that shows a used car may be a more ecologically sound choice than a new Prius:
While the Prius is more practical than high efficiency solar vehicles, why not add some solar to the Prius anyway? This solar kit from SEV seamlessly installs onto a Prius' roof and claims to add up to 32 kms per day of electric mode driving/increase fuel economy up to 29%. Compatible with Prius models from 2004-06, I'm enough of a cynic that I figure if the installation worked that well, the panels would have come standard in the first place (though we've heard that they are under consideration for next gen models). Then again, the 2-3 year "break even" scenario that SEV pitches on their website may have something to do with it. [
AutoObserver reports that the next generation Prius will be four inches longer, get a more powerful 1.8 liter gas engine that when combined with electrics will do a total 160 horsepower (compared with 110hp in the current 1.5 liter setup). The kicker is that it'll be more fuel efficient, too. Using Japan's metrics for fuel economy, the current setup gets 84mpg, but the next gen has been reported to run 94 miles under the same conditions. The car is set to be unveiled in 2009. [
Like the previously released 
Hard to believe the face of green cars, the Prius, is 10 year old this month. And it's still so slow. Here, mod yours with a switch to run in purely-EV Stealth mode. [
Popular Mechanics took a prototype plug-in 2009 Prius for a short test drive, which might be the first PHEV to market. The Prius they ran around still uses the Prius's current nickel-metal hydride battery packs—a pair, actually, with the charging system jimmied in between them—though Toyota hopes to switch to lithium ion, which are more efficient and smaller (thankfully, since the jiggered NiMh packs leave only two medium suitcases worth of trunk space). 
