by Buck Denton

When the Prius made an introduction into the 31st Tokyo Motor Show back in November 1995, it was called the “sedan of the future“. It was a project for early adopters but the technology proved to be successful given the existence of a significant market and Americans who proved to be far greener than once thought.

Back in 2003 Robert Lutz vice chairman at GM described hybrids as making no sense but despite cheaper gas in 2003 and expensive hybrid technology, Toyota an earlier adopter of hybrid technology proved to make the right choice. In the July – September 2007 third quarter, GM recently lost a record 39 billion USD in profits while Toyota saw a profit of 4 billion USD during the same quarter. However, I do not believe it is too late for GM to jump into the green automobile market since the global fuel-efficient automobile infrastructure and market holds obvious and great potential especially as pressure continues to be placed on nonrenewable energy such as oil. As a result, GM will introduce the Volt which is suppose to get around 151 miles per gallon.

The Prius has proved not only practical but also the technology is useful and malleable. It is possible to turn your Prius into a backup generator and a private company exists that improves the fuel efficiency of the Prius by almost 30% by integrating a solar electric vehicle kit. There is a California nonprofit, which converts current Prius models into a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) therefore increasing the mileage to about 100 miles or more. Although PHEVs may use electricity from a nonrenewable resource such as coal, the centralized energy source coupled with superior gas mileage still make PHEVs a smart choice over conventional automobiles which get poor gas mileage and drive all over spewing pollution. Toyota is set to possibly manufacturer the Prius as a PHEV therefore the consumer can purchase a PHEV Prius directly from a car dealer instead of having their current non-PHEV Prius converted into a PHEV. This will prove cheaper for the consumer. Furthermore, Toyota will release major Prius upgrades known as Prius A, B, and C in 2009, 2010, and 2011.

Whatever the future of the Prius, the technology it provides will be needed for years to come given an increasing world population which will need more nonrenewable fuels not only for transportation but construction, commerce and goods. What is saved today will be available tomorrow.

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