Toyota solar car rumors

Despite the global slowdown having forced the auto industry, Toyota is readying plans to release of its upcoming third generation Prius. Toyota is considering radical new designs in a bid to rewrite history with regard to alternative fuel vehicles.

Going a step further ahead, it is believed that Toyota is way ahead in the process of developing a new vehicle which will be powered solely by solar energy. If the grapevine is to be believed Toyota is making a solar vehicle which would would have the first commercial solar concept car.

Toyota in fact lining up upgrades on its Prius and the new proposed Prius model will be quipped with smaller solar panels in an effort to provide power to the onboard electronics. However though, the industry feels that an all-solar car would require drastically more power.

It is being said that the new solar car will be covered in solar cells and will also be an electric plug-in. It can plug into household sockets to harvest energy from solar panels on the home. Meanwhile, Toyota is also looking at doing away with the plug and making the the vehicle entirely independently solar-powered.

Solar technology seems to be that is driving Toyota in times of recessionary troubles. It is said to be doing all it can and even more to push ahead on other solar plans too. According to a news source, Toyota is outfitting its Tsutsumi plant in central Japan, which produces Lexus luxury cars and Camry sedans, with solar panels to provide part of its operating power. The panels, amounting to 60 tennis courts in surface space, can produce enough electricity to power 500 homes. This amounts to big savings in power costs and emissions, according to the company.

Toyota which saw its numbers plummet, recorded its first operating loss in 70 years. Toyota believes that solar power has the might to take it back on track. An important partnership with Panasonic Corp has ensured supply of batteries. Though Panasonic was earlier not a known name in the solar battery business, the acquisition of Sanyo Electric which is expected to go on stream soon is sure to help Toyota in the long run.