Larry Hall talks to Toyota University's Joseph Telmo about the updates to the 2012 Toyota Camry Hybrid.
Also, don't forget to check out the new HybridCars.com YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/hybridcarsdotcom for future videos.
Today Toyota released most details about its redesigned-for-2012 Camry models, including the highly competent Camry Hybrid.
As the best-selling car in America for nine years straight, the line of mid-size sedans have been so competent, it’s almost a hum-drum story – unless you happen to be one who prizes their near-appliance-like functionality.
As is the case for its siblings, the Hybrid retains the same dimensions as the outgoing Camry, but sheds weight – about 220 pounds in the Hybrid’s case, the most weight reduced of them all.
What is a better way to transport Toyota hybrids from Japan? A hybrid ship, of course– at least that is the hope for those endeavoring to cut costs, pollution and fuel consumption from an otherwise wasteful process. This month, Toyota will begin shipping its hybrid vehicles via a floating experiment examining the viability of innovative technologies in shipping called the Auriga Leader. Since 2009, the ship has received a healthy trickle of juice from 328 solar cells. Now it has been fitted with large nickel-hydrogen batteries to offset the massive energy consumption of its diesel engines.
Next month a Wisconsin Toyota dealer hopes to post a new record for putting on the world’s longest hybrid parade featuring as many as 500 hybrid vehicles. Any make or model of production hybrid will be welcome at the Hybrids on Parade (HOP) event, being sponsored Sunday, July 24, by Smart Motors of Madison. The goal is to actually be recorded as a new Guinness World Record™ for longest hybrid vehicle parade.
According to announcements made yesterday by Toyota Executive Vice President Takeshi Uchiyamada, the company plans to introduce six new hybrid vehicles by the end of 2012. Two of the new hybrids would be Toyota vehicles and two would be Lexus luxury models. The company did not spell out which models would be offered as hybrids—so we’ll make our predictions: RAV4 Hybrid, Yaris Hybrid, Sienna Hybrid, Corolla Hybrid, and two sporty Lexus hybrid models. Let's not forget the Toyota plug-ins coming soon.
Toyota said on Tuesday it will recall some 3.8 million vehicles, including the Toyota Prius, because of the risk a floor mat could keep the accelerator pedal forced down. As an immediate remedy, the Japanese automaker urged drivers of a range of recent models to remove driver's-side floormats until it could issue a recall in consultation with federal safety regulators.
Green technologies and programs are being introduced in NASCAR, Formula One, Formula Three, Champ Car, and Le Mans. The entries include ethanol-burning hybrids, veggie-based speed machines, and sedate gas-electric family sedans setting the pace.
Toyota hopped on the compressed natural gas (CNG) bandwagon today when the company said it will unveil a CNG-powered Camry Hybrid concept vehicle at the Los Angeles International Auto show this November.
The Toyota Camry Hybrid—which combines comfort, reliability and good fuel economy—is the second best selling hybrid in 2008. We had an opportunity to drive the 2009 model to get first-hand experience with the drivability and fuel consumption of this carryover sedan.
Automakers took a beating in March as the new vehicle market took a 12 percent dip since February. There was a continuation of the major shift toward smaller vehicles and smaller engines. And the most striking evidence of changes in the marketplace: The Camry Hybrid outsold the Camry powered by a V6 gas engine.
In Toyota's 2006 Super Bowl television ad, an Hispanic father explains how the hybrid car switches between gas and electric power. The son compares it to the way his father can switch between English and Spanish. In the Super Bowl TV commercial, the father explains that he learned English, and bought a hybrid, for his son's future.
