Exposed: 2009 Toyota Prius??

Road and Track today has released what it claims are spy photos of the upcoming 2009 Toyota Prius. These would be the first such photos to hit the Internet, I think.

The accompanying article has some interesting information on the power train, but is a little vague on the exterior. But looking at the photos, I noticed a couple interesting things:

1. The front end is shown with projector headlights. Don't know if this is standard or an option, but it is definitely new.
2. The front end also has a lot of tape on it to disguise the car, but if you look at the resulting surface, it appears that there is a new grill under there. Looks to be similar to the new Camry. This is interesting because that would mean that there is additional open area for the grill, which typically hurts aerodynamics. Perhaps the top of the grill is a fake opening to make the Prius match the company form. Or, more outlandish of a guess, this is the first power adjusting grill to hit the market. This grill could essentially open and close to allow the required amount of air into the engine bay, but no more, thereby continuously optimizing the requirements for operation and aerodynamics.
3. The profile looks remarkably similar. Road and Track comments about a more steeply raked windshield. Not sure I see it in these photos.
4. The rear of the car is an interesting shot. The rear bumper cover appears to be riveted together. Possibly, this is to help hide a change in width of the car by splicing together bumper covers from the existing version. Road and Track states that the car will be longer, so maybe wider too?
5. The most interesting thing to me is the shot of the full rear. If you look above the rear window, it appears that Toyota has taped the roof. I see two possible explanations. First would be a glass roof to give passengers a look at the open sky. The other is solar cells. Several companies have talked about including solar cells on the roofs of cars to help power auxiliary devices and further save fuel. I know of one small car company that is ready to produce this idea. Maybe Toyota is too?

Finally, a little humor from the spy photos. Notice in the full front-end shot, there is a passenger in the front seat apparently taking a picture of the photographer taking pictures of the car! Guess that's the Toyota paparazzi!

Now to wait for the final version to be revealed later this year!

God Bless,
JAy.