Quote:
Originally Posted by hayden55
I can see your point, but its mostly direct sunlight onto skin where you feel the heat (sitting underneath a tree vs unprotected is much cooler). Plus, I'm only cooling myself at the front and not the rest of the cabin.
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The Prius actually relies on it's A/C to draw cool air into the battery, so you've really got no choice but to cool the whole car. In other cars you could add an air conditioning curtain, to confine the cool air just to the front seats.
Even in my van where I've got a solid steel bulkhead, I find heat from the cargo compartment slowly seeps forward into the cab, so keeping the cargo area cool is almost as important as the cab. If I ever get a sewing machine I plan on adding a nice quilted blanket to aid in insulating the two.
Another thing is you're allowed much darker tint on rear/ rear side windows, so the tint will be more effective.
Particularly on a Prius, if the battery is kept cooler you might get a direct improvement in economy for a very small spend.