Mark remarks:

> I find that MPG is the wrong measurement though. A completely electric car
> has an infinite MPG. A better measure would be cost/distance. Because
> electricity is cheaper to produce than gas, the Plug-In is about a quarter
> to a third the cost of gas/petrol over the same distance.

Actually, if you charge your PHEV during the night, when electric rates are 
especially low, the cost could be as low as 2 cents/miles, although 4 
cents/mile is more reasonable.


  
>  > Even more than that, Toyota just announced today that it will also be
>  > offering the next logical step: a solar-powered PHEV version of the Prius:
>  ...
>  > In a normal commute situation, where the car sits in a parking lot all
>  > a trickle charge integrated over a day's charging likely means the commute
>  > home could be free (no gasoline, no external electricity), depending on
>  > size of the solar array placed on the car's upper surfaces.
>  
>  In the articles I have found relating to this story, the solar panels are
>  not advertised for mileage but are meant to add to other features like air
>  conditioning, small fans, etc. That's not to say that it couldn't provide a
>  small boost to the range of a trip but that wasn't the impression I got from
>  the articles. Here's one example:
>  
>  http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?
f=/c/a/2008/07/07/BUFO11L7FO.DTL
>  ...
>  Toyota Motor Corp. plans to stick solar panels on some models of its popular
>  Prius hybrid car, according to news reports Monday. The panels, made by
>  Kyocera, would help power the air conditioner.

Toyota is simply being conservative. In business of technology, it is never wise 
to overpromise anyone about anything, and Toyota is certainly not promising 
more than can be delivered. However, they're also being more conservative 
than is physically possible. Here's a YouTube Los Angeles news video clip of a 
small company that already converts standard Priuses into solar-powered 
Priuses:
 
   http://youtube.com/watch?v=9Jsqf5CEUI0#

While it is true that the *instantaneous* power available from the solar panels 
is only enough to run an auxiliary system such as an air conditioner 
continuously, a parked car trickle charging all day in a parking lot will 
accumulate sufficient power to get you home in the evening at absolutely no 
cost, provided you don't live that far away or drive at full highway speeds, but 
that's going to be true for a lot of people. It certainly was for me when I 
taught at the university.

These small charges, constantly renewed, will make a dramatic difference in 
overall mileage. The Solar Prius shown in the newsclip is not a PHEV, but if it 
were, and it were also charged overnight at the lowest possible rates, two 
extraordinary benefits would accrue: gasoline use would fall to virtually zero, 
except when in intercity travel, and the costs per mile would be perhaps 
1/10th of what you're paying now, at no sacrifice in comfort, safety or speed.

Toyota knows all of this is possible, and I'm sure that they're going to make it 
happen.

Wirt Atmar
 

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