You may recall I wrote earlier about how quiet hybrids are, and the test conducted by the U.S. National Federation of the Blind's Committee on Automotive and Pedestrian Safety. And yes, a hybrid car running totally on battery power is so quiet a blind person, or even a sighted person not paying enough attention, could be in serious trouble when the hybrid "sneaks up" on them.
Last year I wrote about Solar Electrical Vehicles and their system for adding solar panels to the roof of your hybrid. It includes a supplemental battery pack and solar panels for the roof, which they said could increase MPG by 17% - 29% for a Prius.
The Prius has become damn-near ubiquitous in the decade since Toyota introduced it, and now there are more than 1 million of them on the road. You can bet that number will keep rising right along with fuel prices.
