In a personality shift that would make Madonna jealous, the hybrid gas-electric vehicle is being transformed from ecoweenie-mobile to lean green crime-fighting machine. Law enforcement departments across the country are considering the use of hybrid vehicles as police cruisers.
After speaking with a “well-placed Toyota source,” Edmunds’s Auto Observer is reporting a few details about the third-generation Prius, due out in 2009. The quintessential hybrid will be bigger, faster, and more fuel-efficient.
When Jim Press was the top executive for Toyota USA, he said that the Japanese government never directly aided the company in the development of the Toyota Prius. Now, as president of Chrysler, he says that the Prius had 100 percent government backing. Why would Mr. Press flip-flop?
Toyota and Honda plan to significantly step up production in order to keep up with the global demand for hybrid vehicles.
ZAP, the California-based electric car maker, is teaming up with Colorado-based Hybrids Plus to offer plug-in conversion systems for the Toyota Prius and Ford Escape Hybrid.
A mock ad for the Toyota Prius depicts a hybrid driver soliciting the services of a prostitute. The clever piece of "culture-jamming" simultaneously mocks the self-righteous tendencies of hybrid drivers and subverts the do-good jingoism of corporations pushing their so-called green wares.
Lexus will introduce a hybrid wagon, based on the hybrid architecture of the next-generation Prius, at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, according to a report from Motor Trend.
California-based OEMtek says it can outfit a Prius with a bigger battery pack and double its fuel economy to more than 100 miles per gallon—for a cost of $12,500.
One of the industry’s top contenders in the race to manufacture more powerful next-generation batteries for the auto industry has integrated a lithium ion battery into a Toyota Prius. EnerDel, based in Indianapolis, Ind., exhibited the research vehicle with the new battery pack at the International Electric Vehicle Symposium (EVS-23) in Anaheim, California.
In an ironic twist, one of the cleanest running cars on the road, the Toyota Prius, is having trouble passing the Georgia emissions test. This problem was first reported in April, 2007. Prius owners have become dumbfounded and frustrated over the ordeal.
via Atlanta Journal-Constitution
November 28, 2007
Toyota unveiled visual design concepts for their next hybrids at the 2007 Geneva International Motor Show.
When an unknown musician becomes an overnight sensation with a runaway hit album, expectations for the follow-up release often rise to unrealistic levels. Toyota faces similar anticipation from loyal fans waiting for the next-generation Prius.
The Toyota Prius will be celebrating its 10th anniversary later this year. Looking back to the birth of the Prius, the engineers behind the vehicle were apprehensive about being able to achieve what appeared to be an impossible goal. But that task may be child’s play compared to the next 10 years for the Prius.
