2010 Prius To Get 50 MPG, Solar Roof

Toyota just unveiled the third generation Toyota Prius, a car that has absolutely revolutionized the industry and what it means to be environmentally conscious in a car-centric world.

It's easy to say that this third generation car isn't as big of an advancement as the last two were. But I'm actually going to say that I'm pretty dang impressed.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[mathme]

Catching up with the Honda CRX!

[MadamRoma]

The 2010 Volt will get 100mpg.

[netzwerg]

Yeah, you can buy one for 40k.

[KillTheMessenger]

It's not even clear that you can ever buy one.

[KillTheMessenger]

They should have pushed the envelope a little bit more, maybe towards 55mpg. Too bad. Maybe next time. I do understand the reasoning... they want market share and have to get away from the image of hybrids to be slow to accelerate, so they added more muscle and less efficiency, even though I believe they could have gone either way. From an environmental perspective getting 20% more of them out on the street is better than getting the vehicle 10% more efficient, of course. But still.

The interior is nice, not breathtaking, but certainly a whole lot better thought out than the Insight's. Just the shifter is an eye-sore. It's just another a electric switch, for heaven's sake. There are no gears and rods attached to it. It simply tells the computer where to go. So why make a big deal about it design wise? It won't fool anyone into believing that the size serves a function, will it?

[rkimball]

toyota already has a clean bluetech daihatsu built 1800 cc diesel in a sport two door prius with extended battery packs & solar panels on roof & hood with 0 to 60 in 6 seconds for the japanese market only. it is said to get over 100 mpg with near muscle car performance. this may be america's next version of the 4th generation prius in 2012 or 2013.

all detroit has are concept cars at car shows or still on the drawing boards. no wonder detroit is in dire straits.

[Arthur954]

If it where a turbodiesel - hybrid it would be much better. I just wish that the paperwork or whatever for diesels where more simple, and some great European diesel - hybrids could be brought to the US. Now THATS a big difference in MPG !

[KillTheMessenger]

Difference in mpg, yes. Difference in carbon emissions, not so much. And cleaning up a diesel seems to be a lot harder and more expensive than cleaning up a lean running gasoline engine. There might, of course, be another factor at play in environmental terms which has to do with refining efficiency. And I have to admit that I simply do not know if that makes a difference in favor of either diesel or gasoline.

Clean air is a real problem in the US and "zero emission" cars go a long way. If you have seen the smog in LA, you will know...

[mamadeus]

I have a friend that has a diesel , man. trans., Jetta. 45 mpg. on the highway. Great car. Not expensive.