Solar Powered Toyota Rumored in Production

A Japanese newspaper has apparently blown the cover on Toyota‘s secret plans to build a solar-powered vehicle. The Nikkei reported through unknown sources that the model will initially use electricity and solar panels on the roof of the car, with additional charge coming from panels on the owner’s house. A car fully-powered by solar panels will follow, the Nikkei said, but not for years. There’s been no official response from Toyota. We’ve previously heard that the 2010 Prius will offer optional solar panels to power some small functions like air conditioning, but that also hasn’t been confirmed. Simply because it looks awesome, the image above is of Toyota’s Hybrid X concept car. We’ll have to wait to see what a real solar-powered driving machine might look like. [Associated Press via GearLog]