[MO_MPG]

Woo-woo! In Sonoma, CA yesterday I got to see dozens of high-tech "green" cars including two shiny-new 2004 Prius.

The "Michelin 2003 Challenge Bibendum", an international event, is being held at the Infineon Raceway in Sonoma this week. There's more info available at:

http://www.infineonraceway.com/
http://www.challengebibendum.com

(9/24/03 was the only public access to see the cars -- all the tests & competition are confidential.)

The new '04 Prius are so cool! They also had a 2003 Prius parked next to the '04 models, so it was easy to do side-by-side comparisons. We got to watch the Prius drive around a bit, and people could sit inside them while the cars were parked. Sleek. Sexy. Cool.

This may be old news, but one of the Toyota reps said the US '04 model do _not_ include the so-called "stealth-on-demand" feature (force all-electric mode by pushing a button.) I was very disappointed to hear this. Can anyone else confirm this?

- Peter
MO_MPG (CA)

 

[MO_MPG]

CORRECTION (wrong date)

CORRECTION:

9/23/03 (Tuesday) was the only public access to see the cars -- all the tests & competition are confidential.

[I had the date wrong in my previous post, sorry.]

- Peter
MO_MPG (CA)

 

[efusco]

It's True....unfortunately

Yes, there's some EPA regulation currently in the US that prohibits the driver from changing the fuel/power source...stupid and outdated, but until someone can successfully lobby for a change in the rule we won't see it on the US version.
--evan