Honda Insight goes on sale in Japan as cheapest hybrid
Feb 6, 2009 Auto Tech
Honda Insight
Honda Insight is now on sale in Japan at a price of 1.89 million yen (~$21000), making it the cheapest hybrid on the market, undercutting the Toyota Prius. The Insight is scheduled to go on sale around March is US and Europe., with US prices reportedly less than $20000.
With the new Toyota Prius expected to cost even more than the current model, the increased price gap will only help Honda achieve its 200000 per year sales target to this baby. With a hatchback bodystyle and a claimed 43 miles to the gallon, this car would have been a sureshot hit in the world of high fuel prices few months back. But it remains to be seen if this car will expand the falling market for hybrids with its aggressive pricing or merely cannibalise the sale of Prius and other hybrids. Read the rest of this entry »
Detroit Motor Show’s green highlights
Jan 13, 2009 Auto Tech
Cadillac Converj
ike most recent motorshows, various manufacturers showcased their existing and upcoming green plans in the ongoing Detroit Motor Show. Even in this gloomy financial environment, not many are daring to abandon research into more efficient and alternate fuel vehicles.
GM showed Cadillac Converj, with Chevy Volt underpinnings. Chrysler turned up with the Jeep Patriot extended range EV. Toyota had the new Prius gracing its stands, along with the FT-EV all electric concept and Lexus HS 250h. Read on for more details! Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Chrysler, Detroit, Ford, GM, Honda, Hybrids, Lexus, Tesla, Toyota
Toyota denies solar powered Prius
Jan 8, 2009 Auto Tech
Recently, there were rumors flying that Toyota is developing a car that will be solar powered. Now Toyota has come out with a denial.
“We have absolutely no knowledge of any pure solar-powered vehicle, or plans for one,” said Jana Hartline, a Toyota spokeswoman. She said the article, first reported in a Japanese daily, might have arisen from unconfirmed reports that the third-generation Prius will have solar panels to power the air-conditioner. She declined to comment on any solar applications for the new Prius.
But when did rumors stop with a company denial?
Tags: Prius, Solar Energy, Toyota
Rumours of solar powered car from Toyota
Jan 3, 2009 Auto Tech
Solartaxi
This may sound a bit far fetched, but there are reports that Toyota may be developing a solar powered car! According to The Nikkei, Toyota is working on an electric vehicle that will get some of its power from solar cells equipped on the vehicle, and that can be recharged with electricity generated from solar panels on the roofs of homes. The automaker later hopes to develop a model totally powered by solar cells on the vehicle, the newspaper said without citing sources.
While Toyota has always been at the forefront of developing green vehicles (Prius was the world’s first commercial hybrid) and it has been planning to integrate solar panels on the roof of its next-generation Prius to power the onboard electronics and other stuff, powering a complete vehicle (commercially produced, with enough space and safety) would perhaps take further advances in efficiency of solar cells and maybe even lighter cars. But it may be helped along the way by the integration of Panasonic and Sanyo, who will now have expertise in solar cells as well as hybrid batteries.
Solar powered car won’t be without a precedent though. Recently, Swiss adventurer Louis Palmer returned home after a tour in his Solar Taxi after a journey lasting 53451 km and 534 days. It was a small vehicle powered by panels on a trailer behind the vehicle, a DIY kind of project to spread the message of climate change.
Tags: Solar power, solartaxi, Toyota
Toyota may unveil EV at next Detroit Auto Show
Dec 25, 2008 Auto Tech
iQ
At the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, Toyota is expected to display a small electric city car concept vehicle alongside the redesigned Prius hybrid. This shows the company’s commitment to greener vehicles even amidst falling sales and profits.
There is not much details floating around,except that the concept car will be purely electric and smaller than a Prius. “It’s a concept we are bringing to the show basically to confirm our interest in electric vehicles,” spokeswoman Jana Hartline says, according to the Detroit Free Press. There is speculation that the car may share underpinnings with the iQ city car.
The Japanese automaker is accelerating the R&D of batteries and may introduce EVs as early as 2010, at which point it also plans to roll out the first plug-in Prius hybrids as part of its campaign to move beyond oil. Its Japanese rival Mitubishi meanwhile is hedging its bets with the MiEV electric city car, while TH!nk, a EV manufacturer from Europe is grappling with a bad financial condition.
Tags: EV, Th!nk, Toyota, Toyota Prius
Toyotas win MPG marathons with 80+mpgs!
Oct 15, 2008 Auto Tech, Green Technologies
Toyota Yaris Diesel
A diesel Toyota Yaris won the 2008 ALD Fleet World MPG Marathon recently.
39 vehicles took part in a 400-mile fuel efficiency challenge last week in the UK. Road-types and driving conditions varied a lot in the cross-country marathon, but the goal was simple: Get the best gas mileage possible.
Even amongst petrol cars, a Toyota Aygo came out on tops. I am sure that the folks over at Toyota can’t stop smiling and gloating!
The overall winner, a Yaris 1.4 D-4D (diesel) driven by Andrew Andersz and Gary Luton returned an incredible final MPG of 84.66 (in imperial gallons)(~30kmpl) - even more than the fuel efficiency figures claimed by Toyota! James Sutherland and Richard Hill piloted an Aygo with a 1 liter engine to 82.39 mpg. Impressive!
Tags: Green autos, Marathon, Toyota