Toyota Prius: Shipping the Prius in ultra-low emissions vessel

The 60,000 tonne Auriga Leader combines conventional diesel with 40kW of electric power fed by 328 photovoltaic panels mounted on its top deck. By cutting demand on the oil burners, the electric top-up helps reduce both fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.

The technology was developed by Toyota in cohorts with NYK Line, the firm that owns and operates the vessel. It's the first vessel of its kind to extend the use of solar energy into its powerplant. To date, it has only gone far enough to provide power for the crew quarters. It's part of NYK's plan to remodel its car carrier fleet to cut energy consumption by 50 per cent by 2010.

Launched in Japan last December, the 200m vessel has capacity for 6200 vehicles.

For Toyota, the announcement helps mend the dents left in the Prius's image by accusations that, while clean at the tailpipe, it leaves an oversized environmental footprint in its presale life.

The new model improves the car's use of renewable energy sources throughout its life cycle, starting with extensive use of solar power in the Tsutsumi manufacturing plant. The car itself is available with solar panels to run a fan to keep the cabin cool while the car is parked -- a trick Mazda used on its 929 model for a while in the early 1990s.

The announcement reflects the increasing sensitivity auto manufacturers have on the matter of green credentials. CO2 doesn't just come from the tailpipes of the cars whose environmental virtue we measure in grams per kilometre -- it's a by-product of every part of the auto manufacturing process.

A true measure of a car's environmental impact is measured in terms referred to as 'well-to-wheel', taking in the CO2 emitted per vehicle at every phase of raw materials processing, development, manufacture and shipping.

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