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An excellent vid showing just about everything :) (cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?p=176673)

Wayne Gerdes – CleanMPG (cleanmpg.com) – Dec. 28, 2008

http://www.youtube.com/v/ZQWTPgE0Esw&hl=en&fs=1
Blue Man Group and the 2010 Toyota Prius-III – Inside and out…

Toyota Motor Company recently employed the Blue Man Group to promote the upcoming, all-new 2010 Toyota Prius-III. Along with this very unique and detailed Prius-III commercial, Toyota is scheduling a media launch via press junket but unlike most new vehicle launches that include the writers/editors from Car and Driver, Motor Trend, Road and Track and the National News Papers to name a few, this launch is going to be a bit different. Toyota is including a minimum of 50 of America’s most powerful online “green vehicle” forum owners, green vehicle bloggers and Prius enthusiasts to descend upon the Motor City (that being Detroit :)) on Jan 11th to bring the details of the all-new Prius-III to the world in a more down to earth and probably far more detailed level than most are used to seeing.

Stay tuned as many of CleanMPG’s Prius enthusiasts prepare to bring you the goods and let us all wish Toyota every success with the Prius-III launch in these deeply troubling economic times.

Good stuff and I'm really looking forward to finding out more!

Ditto! Toyota is in a good position to raise the bar for fuel efficiency!

Was anyone able to make out what that button cluster above the rearview mirror was for?

Nice intro date. Trying to steal Honda's thunder on the HI-II intro? That's fine, competition is good. Bring it on.

More importantly, will we have official MPG numbers on both vehicles at their respective introductions?

Hi Dan:

___I can give you the Insight-II's upon launch but I cannot guarantee anything from Toyota although I suspect they will release the Prius-III's on the 11th to us directly. I am not sure if we will be allowed to post the Prius-III details until the embargo is over which occurs on the 12th at 11:30 AM EST.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Nice intro date. Trying to steal Honda's thunder on the HI-II intro? ...

Not likely. It is a major auto event. And the Prius-III countdown clock (http://www.toyota.com/upcoming-vehicles/index.html) was on line well before Wayne and crew starting hinting here about the HI-II unveiling date.

An excellent vid showing just about everything :) (cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?p=176673)
Toyota is including a minimum of 50 of America’s most powerful online “green vehicle” forum owners, green vehicle bloggers and Prius enthusiasts to descend upon the Motor City (that being Detroit :)) on Jan 11th to bring the details of the all-new Prius-III to the world in a more down to earth and probably far more detailed level than most are used to seeing.


Are they going to make you put on the blue makeup Wayne? :)

Can't wait to hear about all the details from the 50 enthusiasts!

Wow! One sweet looking automobile. Just when I decided on the 2010 Honda Insight, Toyota had to up the ante. Can't wait to check out both at the Milwaukee Auto Show (2/21 - 3/1/2009)

Tony

Hi Tony:

___I am trying to get the Insight-II up to the Milwaukee Autoshow but right now, it will not be available through the normal dealer channels because of its dealer launch date happening well after that show. Honda has to make a special vehicle delivery up to Milwaukee for the Insight-II for us to show it at the MiHG booth. My guess would be maybe a 20% chance of this happening.

___I have the feeling the 2010 Prius-III will not be showing up at the 2009 MAS either given that show is again, a dealer show, not a manufacturer show. I will do what I can to have that one up there if the Insight-II is not available…

___Good Luck

___Wayne

As of the first day of the new year, 2009, I have not seen much evidence of real improvement in available automobiles. I bought my Chevrolet Metro XFI in 1991, and am still driving it because it consistently gets 60 mpg in normal driving, and 65 mpg if I keep speed steady and below 52 mph. This car has been very reliable, and starts instantly in cold weather. I have been using Castrol Syntec 5/50 motor oil and Redline gear oil in the gear train. I had expected that General Motors would keep on selling this excellent car over many years in the future but they completely abandoned it to concentrate on big luxury models with very poor gasoline mileage.

Geomodoc

Geomodoc, this is precisely why I purchased my Insight last year -- same characteristics and same lack of currently available competition.

Welcome to the site, by the way!

I am VERY sorry to see that Toyota has diminished the ergonomics/functionality of the Prius cockpit in several areas:

The whole waste of space console arch. Besides making the 'cockpit' claustrophobic, it intrudes on knee space used by tall drivers. It makes the arm rest useless except for 'bent elbow, hand in lap' use, certainly not usable for 'forearm along the armrest' or when both cup holders are in use.
Moving the shifter (and SUPER sizing it) off the dash on onto the console. It also looks like it might block easy access to some of the buttons below the CD player (I presume). The only reason to have the shifter on the mid-line is to simplify and shorten the linkage or on manual transmission vehicles where it is moved FREQUENTLY. How often does a Prius driver actually have to mess with it?? There IS no linkage in the Prius, therefore no reason to move it off the dash where it is accessible AND out of the way. In the 'on dash' location, it is EASILY reached with a MINIMAL amount of hand movement.
Running the audio controls along the left side of the MFD rather than leaving them on the radio itself. More, smaller, harder to hit buttons on the MFD surround degrades ergonomics and functionality.
The cup holders moved back making them harder to access, especially the one hidden in the armrest compartment. Anything in the forward holder will be hard to grasp with the open cover and arch blocking the forward 'side' of the cup. Clearly whoever designed this does not have any shoulder or elbow mobility issues or they have VERY short arms and long legs as I believe the pictures show the seat all the way back.
The 12V outlet is totally blocked by the arch, there is no way a driver could plug anything in without parking the car and it would be an uncomfortable contortion for anyone seated in the shotgun seat.
Have they lost the drawer under the arm rest? If not, it is also inaccessible due to the arch

The circular control shown in the video oddly combines 'Trip' and 'Disp' with temp up/down and the recirculate controls. How does that make sense? What happened to grouping related functions?? Certainly hitting the 'recirc' button in the middle will be a challenge without accidentally hitting another button. The buttons are better designed when one can hit them from the edge rather than having to be spot on with the tip of a finger. Must be the designer has never come across a dead skunk in the road and never drives while wearing gloves. AND there appear to be no tactile indicators on the buttons. If 'Trip' is the current Trip A/B/ODO and 'Disp' is the current 'Display' button on the MFD surround, I see NO reason to even have them on the steering wheel, it isn't like you use those with great frequency while driving.

It also looks like they might have TOO much on the 'at the windshield' display with somewhat small gauges. Safe driving means QUICK glances at gauges that are big enough to see easily. Will reserve judgment on that until I see it for real.

OK, enough whining. But to Toyota: Please fix these "Gen III improvements" for the PHEV Prius that I want to buy when my 2004 Prius needs to be replaced. Design for USE and ERGONOMICS before 'artistic design'.