Something you wish your Prius had

You may never have had a problem, but what's scary is all the other idiots on the road texting, shaving, applying make-up, using laptops and any other distraction they're engaged in rather than paying attention to the task at hand. Now we want these cars to have always-on cruise control and expect these fools to use the brakes to shut it off? They can't even keep their car in one lane. Ughh.

 

Yup, center-of-gravity. Thought that nomenclature was universal. The obvious improvement they could make in the next generation Prius is to move the battery from the relatively high location above the fuel tank as it is in the current Prius (ditto the C-Max and Fusion), to a relatively lower one in front of the fuel tank, as it is in the Prius C. Or they can adopt a longitudinal tunnel configuration, like the Chevy Volt.

(In light of recent events, having the battery form the entire floor of the vehicle as it is in the Tesla Model S... seems a little vulnerable.)

 

My car auto steers to stay in the lane and the cruise control has radar to auto brake (so yes i wish it was always on as well). I want more though. 100% autonomous!

On a more serious note though, it's not really all that unsafe to leave the cruise control on in between shutdowns. As stated earlier brakes always cancels cruise control. No matter how distracted you are if you can't brake to slow down you shouldn't be driving anyways. Also it's not possible to accelerate out of control with the cruise control as the last recorded speed is always erased in between shutdowns with any car. Meaning you need to set it first before that could even happen. Again, if someone is that clumsy of a driver they can just leave the cruise permanently off and hopefully start taking the bus to work.

Personally I use cruise nearly 100% of the time I drive my car, so I'd love for it to stay on. I've also had cars in the past that leave the cruise on after turning the car off and I always loved that feature.

 

Here's a big one. A radio in the console that I could be proud of. Something as technically advanced as the car itself. The radio and gps that is in the car is so abysmally bad I'm ashamed to even let people look at it.

 

I wish that my Prius could communicate with other cars within a certain radius, let's say 5 or 10 miles. If those cars have been stuck and not moving, my car would tell me that I need to take an alternative route. An alternative route known to have cars moving on it. This isn't future stuff, we have the technology, it's just a matter of making it happen. The only obstacle is privacy issues. That seems solvable. All problems worth solving are solvable. Net connected cars is what I wish for any vehicle that I drive.

 

You have a net connected phone if you are using a phone with GPS that will give you real time traffic updates. I know Google Maps is getting much much better about this and obviously will only improve as time progresses.

 

Auto dimming headlights & side mirrors, auto wipers, memory seats linked to the remote, backup sensors, a light for that console area in the middle

swyped from my Note II with Taptalk 4

 

Adaptive headlights, my Lexus has them and they help so much. Factory led tail lights (reverse and turn signal). Better paint coat (thicker so it doesn't chip easily). Ability to play DVD/iPod video while parking brake is on. Actual ev mode so the engine doesn't come on even if I gun it or turn on the heater,

 

500 horsepower

 

I read of Atkinson cycle engines with superchargers. The plus was more power and a reduction in the "pumping losses" that occur when the intake valve stays open for part of the intake stroke, causing reverse air flow for that cylinder for a short time. The minus was the loss of energy to drive the supercharger and increased complexity, of course.

 

Um, the Tom Tom I have for US driving and an Aldi brand GPS for German driving both capture official traffic congestion alerts which they use to notify the driver and calculate alternative faster routes, so you can get that capability right now. The Tom Tom was $110 and has lifetime map updates that so far are working fine although it takes a couple hours every few months to download the updates. Those official notices don't catch every minor slowdown, but they do catch the major ones.

 

The Waze app uses real time intput from users. I don't think that it can get better than that.

 

A decent freakin driver's seat. Geez what buffoons that put the base seat together.

 

A hood and rear hatch design that didn't let every leaf falling in the vicinity collect in the drain channels of the car (with the hood and hatch closed mind you). Makes it virtually impossible to keep those areas clean and will almost certainly accelerate rust later on in the cars life.

 

Um, maybe some areas of the Prius will rust, but I'm sure the rear hatch is aluminum and I think the hood is also so no problem there! Rear wing is plastic so that's safe. But I'm waiting for leaves to fall here so will soon see that problem for myself!

 

Not talking about the hood and hatch themselves, but the drain channels in the chassis itself. Open either end after sitting out all day and those crevasses are filled with leaves - the channels must drain water to the ground, but they can't possibly handle a large volume of leaves being flushed down there and still drain properly. Eventually they'll get backed up, and that's when the issues could start.

My other cars are 17 and 26 years old each (and in near mint condition), so this is something I took immediate notice of.

 

More intelligent auto climate control. If, for instance, I want the front defrost on, that shouldn't cancel Auto, the Auto system should simply continue to operate within that constraint.

 

A higher capacity battery to allow EV mode to go further but not being a plug in version to have that larger battery.

Mike

Mobile on my SGH-i717

 

I don't quite follow, Mike. Please explain.