Less than a month after a dealer starting taking deposits for delivery of plug-in hybrid Priuses, that dealer is now returning them to the customers. Toyota clamped down on the plan, which the dealer—Magnussen’s Toyota of Palo Alto, Calif.—said was simply a way of responding to customers who wanted to make sure they were first in line for the promised plug-ins.
Just three years after its debut in the US, Honda has delivered an updated version of the Honda Fit for 2009. Some analysts believe that it’s premature to bring out a new version of the subcompact five-door hatchback, but it’s here with a slightly sportier look inside and out—so we took it on a quick test drive through the curvy canyon roads north of Los Angeles.
Jim Press, Chrysler president and vice chairman, told Hybridcars.com that his company’s electric vehicles are “closer to production than you think.” He also took a stab at General Motors, suggesting that the Chevy Volt is a "PR stunt."
The story in yesterday’s Detroit Free Press sounded promising: A new electric car maker, with a revolutionary new electric motor, would revive the venerable Detroit Electric brand and start selling electric cars by the end of next year. The article didn’t point out, however, that Detroit Electric had already been revived once, by a California electric car company with a controversial history.
The California Senate approved a bill over the weekend that is being hailed as the most far-reaching urban sprawl bill in the country. The legislation, which is supported by both the Natural Resources Defense Council and the state's largest home builders' lobby, would tie tens of billions of dollars to state and federal transportation funding based on compliance with efforts to reduce sprawl, and by extension, commutes.
Magnussen’s Toyota of Palo Alto, Calif., took the bold step of starting to take $500 deposits for 2010 plug-in Priuses—even before a grid-capable Prius has been announced as an official product. Eric Doebert, business development manager for Magnussen’s, said, "It makes sense that people should get in line now in order to have a shot of even taking delivery in the first year that the vehicle is available."
Toyota president Katsuaki Watanabe told reporters in Tokyo yesterday that fleet tests of an experimental Prius, modified to be rechargeable, will be moved up to late next year from 2010. Bob Lutz, General Motors product czar, told reporters at a press event that its plug-in hybrid, the Chevy Volt, “wasn’t even comparable” to a Prius converted to plug into the electric grid. The race continues.
If the US automobile industry ramps up its efforts to produce eco-friendly vehicles for the mass market, it could cut the nation’s gas consumption by 30 to 50 percent by 2035. That’s according to a new study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. But the study also asserts that the mentality of car consumers will need to change.
The unofficial theme of the second night of the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver was the building of a green economy. In speech after speech, the Democrats pointed to Barack Obama’s plan to put 1 million plug-in hybrid electric vehicles on American roads by 2015—and to rebuild the American auto industry in the process—as the cornerstone of his plan for energy independence.
Dale Vince, CEO of the renewable energy company Ecotricity, and his enthusiastic vehicle engineer, Richard Jenkins, are camped out at Lake LeFroy, a huge salt flat in Western Australia. When weather conditions improve, Vince and Jenkins will be attempting to take back the wind-power land speed record from Bob Schumacher, whose Iron Duck has held the record at 116.7 since March 20th, 1999. But their design—dubbed "Greenbird"—may have implications beyond the Guinness Book of World Records.
