Lime Green Toyota Prius Paint Reduces Fuel Consumption
The 2017 Toyota Prius in the fuel-saving Thermo-Tect Lime Green paint color
There are plenty of features that automakers make use of to reduce fuel consumption: hybrid engines, stop/start technology, aerodynamic enhancements, etc. But a new concept that Toyota is trying out on the Japanese version of the Toyota Prius is fuel consumption-reducing paint.
The paint color pictured above is lime green, called “Thermo-Tect Lime Green.” While bold in appearance and thus possibly unappealing to some drivers, the Prius’ lime green paint is manufactured without carbon black chemicals and instead is created using titanium oxide. The goal in doing so is to increase solar reflectivity. That’s a really fancy way of saying that Prii in this color do not absorb as much heat from the sun, which in turn means the air conditioner will not have to work as hard to maintain a cool environment inside the Prius.
That may sound like a feature that would not have too great an effect on a vehicle, but according to Wired, running the AC when it’s hot out could reduce fuel economy anywhere from 5 to 25%. By reducing the amount of AC that the Prius needs to use to keep things cool, Toyota has discovered an innovative way to save significantly on fuel consumption.
While the paint right now is only available in lime green, there is no reason that Toyota would not be able to roll this out to other paint colors. Right now, the lime green option costs about $381 on the 2017 Prius. It is currently available nowhere else, but if it proves successful, expect to see it implemented in other markets, like here in the US.
News Source: Wired
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