Cheap Gas Car Blog

New Prius Gets Solar Panels

Prius spied while doing testing in Desert, gets optional solar panels and bigger motor.

The new Toyota Prius that will be unveiled in January at the Detroit Auto Show was seen by Auto Week while doing testing.  The new version of the Prius is slightly larger, and shows off a newly designed front end.  Along with the front end changes, there will be a new option of solar panels on the roof of the car that will be used to generate electricity to power the Prius' air conditioning system.  Also, a new motor will be unveiled, one that is 1.8 liter four cylinder, that increases output by 40 horsepower.  Even though the engine will be more powerful, it's reported to also get better fuel economy, which for the prius, is a win-win situation.

The Top Fuel Saving Vehicles for 2008

Of the top fuel-efficient vehicles, eight are hybrids, the remaining 22 are not.

JD Power has released a report containing the top 30 fuel-efficient vehicles of 2008.  Topping the list are hybrids including the Ford Escape Hybrid, Nissan Altima Hybrid, Honda Civic Hybrid, Toyota Camry Hybrid, Lexus RX 400h, Toyota Highlander Hybrid, Mercury Mariner, and Toyota Prius.

The remaining 22 vehicles on this list were not hybrids, but reflected widely the top cars purchased the previous year, as fuel costs surge.  The 22 others include models such as the Chevrolet Aveo, Chevrolet Aveo5, Chevrolet Cobalt, Ford Focus, Honda Civic, Honda Fit, Hyundai Accent, Hyundai Elantra, Kia Rio, Kia Spectra, MINI Cooper, MINI Cooper S, Nissan Sentra, Nissan Versa, Pontiac G5, Pontiac Vibe, Saturn Astra, Smart Fortwo Convertible, Smart Fortwo Coupe, Toyota Corolla, Toyota Matrix, and the Toyota Yaris.

Also in the report, there was a poll that asked 4000 people whether they were willing to consider purchasing a hybrid-electric vehicle, whereas the respondents agreed in favor at 62%, up from a response of 50% a year ago.

While the willingness to purchase electric-hybrids has increased, most people are feeling more reluctant to purchase vehicles based on flex-fuel ethanol systems, considering that these systems use wheat to create fuel, driving food prices through the roof.

Less people are willing to buy diesels because of the increase in fuel costs, and e85 vehicles because of the increase in food costs, so hybrids are becoming a viable alternative.

2009 Ford Escape Hybrid Shows Big Improvements

A larger gas engine, improved aerodynamics, and better fuel economy.

These are a few new features of the 2009 ford Escape Hybrid.  And not only that, but the Escape Hybrid will now be available in a new Luxury Limited Edition model.

The Ford Escape Hybrid is rated at 34 miles per gallon in the city and 31 miles per gallon on the highway, increasing it's mileage over the 2008 model year by an average of 1 mile per gallon.  On the other hand, the four-wheel drive model will get 29 miles per gallon in the city and 27 miles per gallon on the highway, acheiving better city mileage because of the use of the electric motor at low in-town speeds.

The new prices for the Ford Escape Hybrid range from $28,305 for the front wheel drive model, to $32,385 for the all-wheel drive limited edition model.

Toyota’s Prius outsells demand.

After selling only 15,000 units of the Prius in 2001, Toyota can't keep up with demand anymore.

This year, 180,000 units of the Prius have been sold, and Toyota expects the demand to continue even though they are exceeding their production capacity.  Roll along to 2010, and Toyota plans to start building the third generation Toyota Prius in a Mississipi Plant thats currently makes the Toyota Highlander SUV's.  The third generation Prius will be shown to the public at the Detroit auto show in January 2009, and available for sale shortly after.  The price of the Prius increased $550 this year, and another increase of $500 is planned for the 2009 model year, bringing the base price of the Toyota Prius up to $21,500.