Comments on: Toyota Prius Sets 1 Million Sales as Green Car Benchmark

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 02:55:48 +0000

"During the last three months, Prius sales in Japan dropped by about 20%."

Just to clarify, I meant the last three months of 2010.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 02:43:23 +0000

"Prius [cumulative] worldwide sales topped 2.2 million units and last year was the highest led by a 312,000 sales in Japan. This year should be even higher because of the Prius v model."

Not necessary.
It's because after the expiry of incentive from Japanese government in Sept last year, the Prius sales in Japan dropped.
During the last three months, Prius sales in Japan dropped by about 20%.
During the first two months of this year (i.e. before the Japanese earthquake), Prius sales fell by a staggering 33%.

Finally, I doubt any increase in sales in the U.S. can fully compensate the fall in Japanese sales.

By: Capt. Concernicus

Capt. Concernicus — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 12:38:55 +0000

@ Sean T,

The temperature was 64 degrees on a Saturday morning in a suburb of Chicago. The road itself was fairly flat and it was all town driving where the speed limit varied from 30-45 mph. Traffic was lighter than I had expected for that time of day on the road we took. It was an area where I had only driven a few times before so it's not like I knew the route, traffic flow or how the stoplights did or did not sync up with each other. Plus, I was following a friend to his mom's house and I didn't know where she lived. All that made it hard for me to really maximize the route I was driving.

But quite honestly I just tried to judge the stoplights the best I could. If I saw them turning red up ahead I would just begin a glide pattern (basically neutral coasting in case you don't know) until I either (A) started to get too close and needed the engine to start slowing me down quicker, plus the brakes or (B) the light turned green and I could get back up to speed. I never drove under the speed limit unless I was going to have to stop or turn. If I was at a stop and had to go I would briskly get back up to speed. I never floored it nor do I take forever to get to speed. When I'm at speed I just continually monitor the instant mpg gauge and the flow of energy from the engine, to the battery, to the wheels etc. I kept my foot resting against the center hump to better help modulate the pressure on the gas pedal. If there were people behind me I used shorter braking distances. If not, then I used longer lengths of the road to stop or slow down. I don't like being one of those annoying people that end up being a hinderance to others on the road.

That was just one specific gallon that I got that many miles on. When I filled up I found myself averaging only 48.64 mpg. A little disappointing, but still decent.

Now the car is averaging 47.9 mpg. 0.3 less than my previous post, but snow, slush and cold weather don't help the situation at all.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 18:58:52 +0000

Can’t say I’ve ever seen the South accused of being “too smart” before!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 15:19:08 +0000

@Aiden, AFAIK, 1) Jatco is a subsidiary of Nissan Motor. According to wikipedia (which, sometimes, is less than perfect), Jatco is a supplier to Hyundai Motor, Jaguar, London Taxi, Ford Europe, Renault Samsung, Ford Lio Ho (of Taiwan), Changan Ford (of China), Daimler Chrysler (before they split ways). More importantly, it says: "Today, products from nearly every auto maker have used Jatco transmissions, with the notable exceptions of Honda Motor Company, who makes their own transmissions, and Toyota Motor Company, who has always used transmissions made by Aisin, a subsidiary of Toyota."

2) Prius uses a power split device from Aisin;
3) The NiMH battery in Prius comes from Panasonic EV Energy Company, originally formed as a joint venture between Toyota and Panasonic. It was renamed Prime Earth EV Energy after Panasonic reduced its shareholding to 19.5% as part of its acquisition of Sanyo, another manufacturer of batteries for hybrid vehicles.

By: Aiden

Aiden — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 22:34:19 +0000

On a down note, because of the quake and tsunami, it'll be hard for Toyota to keep up these hybrid sales numbers, as well as Ford and Nissan, who have licensed Toyota's hybrid tech and/or use Toyota part-owned suppliers. Aisin and Jatco, which produce hybrid transmissions and electric motors, and Sanyo, which produces hybrid batteries, were all hit hard by power-outtages and damage due to the disasters. Even if customer demand for hybrids goes up, it's doubtful supply will be able to match demand for the next few months.

By: Aiden

Aiden — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 22:25:26 +0000

Kudos to Toyota for daring to introduce a gas sipping car when SUV’s were all the rage–taking losses for the first half-decade, yet finally proving that the public wanted eco-friendly cars and would pay for them.
Toyota, singlehandedly, made environmentally-friendly cars MAINSTREAM. The customer doesn’t have to compromise on quality or price when they get a eco-friendly car–in fact, the Prius has gotten JD Power’s Most Dependable small car for 4 years in a row, Intellichoice’s Top Pick for 6 years in a row, and recently got a 5-Star rating in NHTSA’s newest and most stringent crash tests:

By: BoilerCivicHy

BoilerCivicHy — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 17:15:16 +0000

I guess it must be just american companies then that feel the need to justify the car cost that way, when I was looking at a Civic hybrid the cost difference with similar options was only about 3K dollars, not as high as the difference in cost on the Fusion. I love the look and the thought of havin another Ford hybrid, I currently drive an Escape hybrid, but just cannot justify almost 30K for a second car, hopefully the new Focus hybrid will finally offer a cost effective American hybrid alternative that I can afford for my second car.

By: Jim1961

Jim1961 — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 12:33:12 +0000

I own a 2011 Honda Insight. When I drive the car I average much higher than the EPA estimate of 41 mpg combined. I’d guess my average fuel efficiency is about 50 mpg. On some trips I’ve gotten as high as 60 mpg according to the Insight’s automated mpg display thingy. I would have a better idea of my average mpg but my wife and daughter tend to drive less efficiently. By the way, I may drive conservatively most of the time but for safety reasons I do not accelerate slowly on a highway on ramps.

By: sean t

sean t — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 09:20:54 +0000

Cpt Concernicus,

Can you tell more about your trip w/ 81.5 MPG? Any trick or just normal driving? Would like to learn from you.