2010 Prius Models and Option Packages

"Fog lights?" My cars got 'em. I did a little test: parked ~4 ft. from a
white vertical surface in the late evening. Turned 'em on... result, a
dull yellowish glow. With the low beams on there was no appreciable
difference with or without the "fog lights."

I see Prii driving around with them on all the time. Being used as
DLRs? They're positioned rather low for that. Most likely the drivers
don't know/can't tell they're on and forgot about 'em long ago.

From my experience and what I've read, the only fog in these lights is
the fog of complaints about their uselessness. They are more a styling
feature than a useful driving aid.

My "fog lights" still work, and as of now the glass lenses aren't yet
chipped, scratched, or broken. But from other's experience, there
appears to be a good chance they will be while I own the car. They
will then become an expensive irritant when I sell the car to get
a PHEV Prius.

I know it's out there somewhere, faintly discernible through the fog of
speculation about its coming... 2011? 2012?

 

Smart's?... you got a link to where those are at in case we want to addon ourselves?

 

I think this is the case. After all, you can't turn on the fogs independently from the headlights. If you turn them on once, they'll always come on with your headlights until you turn the fogs off.

I have found no useful application of these fog lamps, and (I try) to keep them turned off.

 

I concur 100% with the above regarding the Prius factory fog lights. I also have factory fog lights on my HiHy and they are not particularly useful. I certainly would not single out Toyota fog lights as a feature to be looked for.

I do recall that my 1988 BMW 325i and 1992 MBZ 400-E had fog lights, and those were much more effective. Maybe there's lots of fog in Europe but no fog in Japan?

 

I know the beam pattern for headlights is quite different between North America SAE construction regs and the rest of the world's ECE regulations. It's quite possible that ECE regs are different for fog lamps as well. The Smart could be fitted with ECE lamps and strictly be illegal in the US and Canada, but North America works on self-certification rather than the ECE Type Approval system.

Unfortunately, while ECE Regulation 19

 

we have quite a bit of fog here (Olympia is listed as having fog 100% of the time during morning hours...dont know if i would go that far... guess its there, but not as noticeable as others) but i have only had one vehicle a Ford F-150 that has fog lights. they do ok, but i have never had any real issues driving in fog. i just drive slower.

 

That should not be an issue... thats why we have an on and off switch, and if its on, that means we have fog and/or need them, if we turn them off, we don't.

I other words, they should work if they are on, regardless of where we live.
I just moved all the way across the country... it happens every day.

Why would it not even be an option on certain models at all?....

Even here in Texas, we have fog at times.. not often, but when we do, it can be intense.

 

Any word on pricing yet?

 

A European Prius would not be certified to US motor vehicle safety and emissions standards, so it's not likely you would be able to import said vehicle into the US.

 

Same with Canada?

Roy

 

Hi TP,

When you look at your Canadian Prius, do you see decals on the driver's door jamb and the inside of the hood that discuss compliance with US EPA and DOT standards?

 

Do you know , when Lithium-Ion batteries and plug-in systems will be avaible ?

 

Looks like only 150 of the 500 will come here later this year per this article.

Toyota's VP commented here.

I don't know if Toyota will comment furthur, but all I know is that they are available on a few select Fleet cars now... I expect they are using them as a test series, or maybe there were limited supplies on batteries to make them stock on all cars but I'm only speculating.. Maybe Toyota can chime in.

They are usually reluctant to commit to such things as that may affect sales of their present stock.
The comforting thing about a 2010 purchase is the 2010 Battery "NiMH" has been reconfigured in size so that it can be swapped for the LiIon later. They must already know which ones they will be using and some cars are already released, or will be later this year.
How much will it cost?... good question!, but unless the Amp/Hr rating is much higher on the LiIon, it will be hard to justify tossing a perfectly good NiMh unless they offer some kind of a swap program.

It looks to me like they are already running behind schedule... here is an article on plugin, but using NiMh.

Other good reading, here too

 

I hope that Bluetooth can be installed as a separate option. I'm not sure if I want to pay the diff between packages 2 and 3.