3 responses to “The next generation Prius”

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  chrism November 17th, 2008 at 14:04

  Don’t have a prius (yet) and am wondering if this is the smartkey system? i guess i didn’t know the prius even had a key fob. thanks, chris

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  chrism November 17th, 2008 at 14:05

  curious if this a/c button only apply to the solar prius??

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  russell November 17th, 2008 at 14:23

  My guess is that yes, this is the smartkey for the next generation of Prius. I would surprised if smartkey was not made standard in the next iteration of the vehicle.

  As for what it does, here’s my theory. On a standard vehicle you can purchase a remote starting system which does two things, starts the IC engine and warms it up and also gets the interior climate control system going. ON either extremely hot or cold days this is a nice thing to have.

  But since the Prius doesn’t work in quite the same manner installing a remote start on a Prius is rather worthless. So maybe this turns the Prius on and starts the climate control system? It’s the only thing I can think that A/C could mean.

  If so it would be great here because those cold days are, well, quite cold.

  Now, with all that said and with great deference to Toyota, this would really only be useful if they significantly increased the range of the smartkey. If I have to go stand next to the car to start this “remote system” then it’s not really practical.

  Which brings me back the idea that maybe it is something else.

  Truth is, I don’t know and I’m guessing just like everyone else.