There is nothing more annoying than getting in a car that is boiling. In the Australian climate temperatures in a normal car have been shown to rise to around 80ºC when the ambient air temperature is 35ºC.

The idea of having a remote in-car "hot air" remover has been around for some time, but Toyota has come out with an evolution of that technology. The Big T's next-generation Prius  uses the car's battery to power remote activation of the air-conditioner. Not bad!

The remote activiation system is triggered by an A/C button on the key fob. The technlogy is combined with solar cells on the car's roof that power a fan to discharge hot air from the car when it is parked (if you're thinking that's a little silly, wait till you get in a cooled parked car and wonder how that happened!).

The idea is to produce a quicker overall cool-down time, thereby saving fuel and enhancing the driving experience.

Toyota has worked out that when combining the solar-powered ventilation (parked) with operating the remote air-conditioning system for just one minute, the Prius can reduce its in-car temperature by more than 40 per cent.