Toyota May Add Solar Panels to Next Prius

Reuters is crediting an anonymous source in reporting that Toyota will add solar panels to an uplevel trim of the next Prius hybrid. The solar panels will power just the air conditioning. The source said it’s “more of a symbolic gesture. It’s very diffucult to power much more than that with solar energy.”

The next-generation Prius will be released next year. Solar panels were integrated into Toyota’s A-BAT concept shown at this year’s Detroit auto show. The compact pickup hybrid was a favorite of ours. You can check out a video of it here, where we point out the solar panels placed on the dashboard. There was no word on where the panels would be placed in the Prius.

We’d bet that the solar panels are indeed a symbolic gesture because the cost would most likely prohibit mass adoption at this stage. However, air conditioning is one of the most mileage-taxing systems in any car.

Toyota to add solar panels to some Prius hybrids (Guardian)

More Prius News (KickingTires)