On a hot summer day, running the air conditioner is said to cut fuel economy to up to 25 percent. Owners of electric cars realize that they in particular would much prefer to use the available energy to secure a longer driving range than to cool the passenger cabin when it's hot. One way of tackling the problem is by using solar reflective paint that minimizes the amount of heat, which is absorbed through a car's exterior paint (especially black). 

With this in mind, Toyota created a brand new 'shade' of green paint and called it Thermo-Tect Lime Green, "packed with tiny reflective titanium oxide particles and doesn't contain carbon black, a common ingredient in paint that tends to absorb lots of heat," according to Nicholas Stecher comment in Wired.

Despite what some may think, this particular green wasn't designed to make you look like a green eclectus parrot, but to save energy in the way the white and silver cars do. Toyota simply wanted to offer a wider range of colours for customers to choose from and still benefit from the same advantages given by, for example, heat-reflecting white vehicles (reflecting about 70 percent of sun's rays) that keep the cabin cooler without having to use the air conditioning as much. Toyota spokesman Takashi Ozawa stated that they "expect heat increase control of around 5 degrees Celsius (9 degrees Fahrenheit) when comparing vehicle body surface temperature with and without thermal barrier function under the scorching sun in summer."

On top of that, a study of CO2 emissions reduction by solar reflective coating for automobiles showed that using solar reflective paint on every passenger car in Japan could actually cut CO2 emissions by 210,000 tons a year - an amount that can't be easily ignored.

The paint is currently available only in Japan, offered as an alternative you can choose for $350.