Most cars still have ashtrays? My last ashtray was in my 1986 Honda. (OK, ok, I've had only two newer cars to check.) In the Prius, an RPM display will be To Much Information for the average user, causing problems that lead to too many complaints and technical support questions.
+1 on that! In my little rolling foothill/mountain area, that feature would save a pretty significant amount of fuel. The uphills always require ICE, which means I reach the top of the hill at 6 bars on the battery (the Gen III charges whenever ICE is running if there are less than 6 bars) and there is never enough room in the battery for all the regen on the way down. If I could hit an "Uphill" button to have a one-time discharge of the traction battery to some minimum safe level, I could get a lot more useful regen on the downhill, use less ICE on the uphill, avoid the screaming B mode and overall save a lot of fuel. Agreed that "Uphill" mode should auto-cancel as soon as the regen starts or after 5 minutes. Would be awesome for certain hilly locations, including mine.
-HUD -DRCC down to 0mph -P&G or more fuel efficient Cruise Control modes -Optional battery sizes (larger for extended range EV) -http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/06/lte-connected-car-redefines-the-mobile-in-mobile-broadband-vi/
Move to Australia. Be prepared to pay over $36,000US equivalent for a base model Prius but your prayers will be answered. (although speed will be in kilometres per hour, the international system.)
I think that eventually the solar roof will do more. My guess is that Toyota is taking baby steps with the solar roof functions.
Compared to the techie responses here, mine are pretty low-tech. 1) more storage space in the doors (like in the Gen II). 2) at least one locking compartment (the middle console or one of the glove boxes) 3) better automatic darkening of the rearview mirror at night 4) larger clock located on the console, not on the dashboard
No. 3 can be done by rotating the mirror upside down. It's not really an issue with the mirror but more so the rear spoiler that's blocking the mirror sensor from receiving enough light to warrant dimming. Rotating it upside down would get the sensor above the rear spoiler and in direct line of sight of headlights.
I gathered my favs from previous posts and added a few of my own: Proper iPhone interface, designed by Apple (not surprising considering my other posts!) Built-in place/tray for phone next to instrument cluster (not hidden in console or glovebox) USB port or aux jack in the instrument cluster Touch Pressure adjustments for Nav screen like volume adjustments Nav system designed by Apple (dreamin' I know) Dual sunvisors with extender (really like this on our other cars) Window shades (like the Sienna) User-programmable options Full seat-height adjustment Dual Power seats & mirrors with memory (for myself + very tall husband) Heated seat button in climate control cluster, or on the seat, or doors (current location is hard to reach for passenger) Lower rear window wiper (this would be nice) Hatch-attached rigid tonneau lifter - like SAAB Finished out lower "trunk" area under the carpet. I need this area for greater trunk storage height to be used with carpet panel removed Privacy glass standard on the rear windows More storage space in the doors AWD All LED lights, including one in the under-console. Perhaps a cigarette lighter version of a nite lite? Option of black- or silver-colored carbon-fiber dash customization Do we have a thread where we can share what we love about our Gen III's? I Love my new V-AT. And I know it sounds silly, but I really love that my husband loves driving it too and he's more of a tech-geek than me. I would like to share the good along with the wishes.
Seriously, one thing that would likely annoy me in the Prius IV and V is the ... auto-dimming, Homelink rearview mirror, that it hangs too low and gets awfully close to obstructing other things on the road like cars and people. Even when double jointed arms pushed full up. That can be painfully annoying to me. I think there might be an advanced technology type box that sits just in front of that mirror on equipped models. Can anyone confirm this? Still, it would be good if the plastic piece that contacts the windshield could adjust farther up the windshield glass, especially for the really tall drivers out there.
I'm a chicago flatlander... but how about putting in an accelerometer (like in the iphone) to sense the angle of the vehicle in motion.... and then couple that with GPS, elevation, and map data to see that I am going up/downhill... and based on previous breadcrumbs, gps route destination, or educated fuzzy logic guess on a long straight route... that I will be going downhill soon, and adjust SOC for that goal. rich
I believe the factory GPS cars do have some sort of "inertial navigation" that permits them to show current position even when they temporarily lose satellite signal such as in tunnels or deep canyons. Based on odometer and steering wheel angle, etc. System recalibrates when signal is re-acquire, and is remarkably close. That is one advantage of factory GPS over aftermarket units.
Felt the need to add one and didn't want to lose track of myself... Active Noise Cancellation or DynaMat
That is of course, exactly how it should work. I was just figuring that amount of AI and tie-in between systems might be something for the Gen IV. But an uphill button... that's a pretty easy year-to-year change that could happen anytime .