Automotive blogger Matt Gasnier did a compilation of worldwide sales for the month of March for The Truth About Cars, noting several hybrid models are coming on strong compared to conventional counterparts.
As for the especially stellar performance by the Prius line, it was “a historical month indeed” for Toyota’s growing sub brand and the assertion published on TTAC – which prides itself on being contrarian and having the inside scoop – is the hybrid era may have started for good.
Helped with the Japanese launch of the Alpha – called the v in North America – and the Aqua – called the c in most of the world – the Prius family logged record-breaking volumes in Japan and the U.S.
Toyota expects its total 2015 hybrid sales to be around 400,000 units – fully half of which comprised of Prius variants – and the company said it is now preparing for North American Prius production possibly by that model year or sooner.
"We are targeting 2015. Around then we will probably introduce the next-generation Prius, so we are trying our hardest to realize local production of hybrid units then," said Koei Saga, senior managing officer in charge of drivetrain R&D at Toyota.
In his interview with Automotive News at the Beijing auto show, Saga said Toyota is scouting out North American suppliers for batteries, inverters and electric motors, and has not decided on where in the States the new Prii should be built.
High volume of 200,000 units is enough to justify the commitment, he said, and U.S. production will also offset losses due to unfavorable exchange rates and costs associated with shipping hybrids from Japan.
Last week, Fox News’ Neil Cavuto spoke with Toyota Motor Sales President and CEO Jim Lentz about the market for hybrids, gasoline prices, and buyer preferences.
The interview followed Toyota setting yet another Prius sales record with nearly 29,000 total Prius variants sold, the launch of the plug-in Prius, and continued solid sales for the improved Camry hybrid, among other vehicles.
An outspoken skeptic of the Chevrolet Volt, Fox’s "Your World" Host Cavuto probed with a similar edge to his questioning, asking whether the rise of hybrids is “all just a mountain of dust?”
The latest “top pick” list by Consumer Reports has five out of 10 Toyotas on it, including the Camry Hybrid and Prius.
The last time domination by a single brand of this magnitude happened was by Honda in 2003, according to USA Today, which observed also that no Hondas were found on this year's CR list.
Note that the updated 2012 Camry Hybrid was named best “family sedan,” not green family sedan or hybrid family sedan. It edged out all the other Camrys in doing so.
Depending on how one drives it, Toyota’s Prius Plug-In can go a few miles farther than its U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rating, but officially it can be expected to travel 11 miles in electric-only mode.
This falls short of the “up to 15 miles” at speeds up to 62 mph estimated after consulting with Toyota for our full review.
Although not an apples-to-apples comparison, the Plug-In Prius is often weighed against the Chevy Volt, which is marketed as an "extended-range electric vehicle." With its larger battery pack, the domestically produced rival from GM is intended to stay in all-electric mode and up to 100 mph (at certain highway speeds the gas generator does kick on) for an EPA-estimated 35 miles – though this too can vary greatly depending on usage and ambient temperature.
Today Toyota confirmed that the 2012 Prius Plug-in is approved by California’s Clean Vehicle Rebate Program (CVRP).
The vehicle will also be eligible for California HOV lane sticker for solo access, and is eligible for a first-come, first served $1,500 rebate available to anyone who purchases or leases a Prius Plug-In for 36 months or longer.
Combined with a $2,500 federal tax credit, California Plug-In consumers could net $4,000 if all incentives are fully taken advantage of.
Toyota has upped its fuel-efficiency projection for its Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle (PHV), according to Bloomberg, which reports the automaker expects to top the Volt in its U.S. Environmental Protection Agency fuel economy rating.
Toyota’s U.S. Group Vice President Bob Carter, said the Plug-In Prius should manage 50 mpg in hybrid mode for combined city/ highway mileage, and earn 95 MPGe assuming its 4.4-kwh lithium-ion battery is recharged frequently.
“It’s still an estimate, but we are confident it’s going to be 95,” Carter said Tuesday. The EPA rating will be known “in a couple weeks,” he said.
As its launch date approaches, both verifiable and speculative reports are circulating about the Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid.
Among them are that it is expected to return a standard-Prius-beating 107 MPGe, cut CO2 emissions from 89 g/km to 49 g/km, and will debut September 13 at the Frankfurt auto show.
In response to our inquiry, Toyota told us that the 2012 Prius plug-in will indeed be first presented at Frankfurt. The company is keeping a lid on other info, but we’ll tell you more of what the reports are saying just the same.
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.
Last week, Toyota announced that it made the one-millionth sale of the Toyota Prius in the United States. It took Toyota 11 years to achieve that impressive benchmark. While 1 million might sound like an arbitrary figure (well-suited for marketing purposes only), it becomes meaningful when you consider President Obama’s goal of getting 1 million American consumers to drive a plug-in vehicle by 2015.
Toyota showcased a prototype of its highly anticipated new RAV4 EV at the Los Angeles Auto Show this week. Meanwhile, on the other side of the ocean, executives made a series of intriguing new announcements about its electric-drive vehicles.
The release of the Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid—on schedule for 2012—puts Toyota in an awkward position: the need to leapfrog itself. “The problem is that we’re competing against ourselves,” said Bill Reinert, national manager, Advanced Technology Group at Toyota Motor Sales, speaking at the company’s Sustainable Mobility Seminar held in La Jolla, Calif. this week. “How do you offset the costs and make a cogent case for the customer, especially because the conventional Prius is so damn good?”
Canada has some of the world’s most generous consumer incentives for plug-in cars—and the most thoughtful pro-electric-car policies. Last year, Mitsubishi provided its all-electric i-MiEV to British Columbia government and utility fleets. The Canadian province will be the first to roll out the Nissan Leaf electric sedan. And Toyota announced today that it will work with 13 partners test the Prius Plug-in Hybrid in British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Québec.
After years of taking a wait-and-see approach to plug-in hybrids, Toyota yesterday officially announced its plans to produce and market a plug-in version of the Prius in significant quantities. According to Executive Vice President Takeshi Uchiyamada, the company will sell "several tens of thousands" of plug-ins a year globally beginning in 2011.
It appears that every automaker in the world has caught electric car fever, save one: Toyota, the one best known for green cars. In an exclusive interview with HybridCars.com, Toyota product planners explain the company's position on electric cars.
Toyota announced that it would build its first plug-in hybrid by 2010. The announcement represents a change of direction on plug-in hybrids for Toyota.
