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Today, Ford and Toyota signed a memorandum of understanding for a collaboration on new rear-wheel-drive hybrid technology for trucks and SUVs. Yes, that's right, rear-wheel-drive. More »
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Cher bravely lashes out at the hype surrounding hybrid cars, while saying she'd buy a diesel car if they sold diesel near Malibu (they really don't). Maybe she's bitter because her ex-husband died hugging a tree. [FoxNews, Photo: Getty] More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5690341&view=rss&microfeed=true The benefit of first-adoper status? Free Chevy Volt charging stations [GM] More »
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Japan's Best Car says Mazda's mulling an optional hybridized rotary engine for its next-generation MX-5 Miata. Enthusiasts have begged for a rotary option for years, but a hybrid? Zoom-Snore? (H/T to Al!) [7Tune via AutoBlog] More »
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This week's sign of the Carpocalypse? Close-to-the-door hybrid-only parking spaces. Our only question is how much carbon Greenhouse emissions are spewed out the tailpipes of the tow trucks coming to tow away violators? [via fixr] More »
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Toyota’s Harmony Prius commercial was hippie enough. In a logical next step, they are now planting flowers by Californian highways. Swarms of 20,000 flowers! More »
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We aren't the only folks thinking GM's 230 MPG EPA Chevy Volt fuel economy rating's rather fantastic. Apparently the EPA thinks so too, issuing a statement saying it "cannot confirm the fuel economy values claimed by GM." [EPA via GreenCarAdvisor] More »
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The 2010 Toyota Prius is tops in fuel economy. But what if that's not your only motivating factor? Maybe the 2010 Honda Insight or the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid's what you're looking for. But which is better? Let's find out. More »
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According to Toyota's Open Road blog, Magnussen’s Toyota in Palo Alto, California was "doing what Toyota encourages its dealers to do:" Take customers' money. The Silicon Valley dealership had apparently been deluged with requests for a plug-in Prius hybrid; knowing Toyota was working on such a vehicle, Magnussen's decided to take "deposits" for plug-in Prii, despite the fact that Toyota had not yet announced any timetable for retail sales. Irv Miller, Toyota VP of Corporate Communications, then attempted to spin away Magnussen's shady business practices as a simple case of a dealer trying to make its customers happy. Some choice quotes after the jump. More »
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A next-generation 2010 Toyota Prius was snapped in full camo regalia filling up at a gas station. So what can we tell? Mainly that the Prius' has totally ripped off the styling of the new Honda Hybrid, differentiating their design with the addition of a small spoiler on the rear. Reports state, and these pictures seem to confirm, that the main visual changes to the 2010 Prius will be on the interior, with a much more integrated cockpit design taking the place of the tacked-on bins-'n-pods look of the current car. You can get your helping of hybrid smug — made-in-America by 2011, no less — midway through 2009, the tentative date for the Toyota vs. Honda hybrid battle royale! [Drive.com.au] More »
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Former Jalopnik intern Eric Tingwall over at that magazine all about the Automobile has put together a small-car fuel economy comparison to finally settle the question of whether a compact hybrid like the Prius is actually a less-expensive alternative to non-hybrid compacts. As Tingwall mentions, the real equation is a lot more complex than just "purchase price plus fuel cost," involving insurance, maintenance and the real kicker: depreciation. We're not going to give away the results, but we will say Prius owners' smugness isn't entirely unjustified. [Automobile] More »
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Lotus is jumping on the bandwagon of companies offering fake engine sounds for deadly silent hybrid cars. They seem to think they're the first people to address this issue, as there seem to be no essential differences in Lotus' system from the likes of what has already been proposed by Fisker. Basically, it's just a set of weatherproof speakers on the exterior of the car that make whatever tone of "vroom-vroom" or "whaa-whaa" you select, so that you won't mow down too many blind people. Check out the video demonstration after the jump. [via PaulTan] More »
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Plug-In Supply Inc. has just introduced a $4,995 Toyota Prius plug-in conversion kit which uses a pack of twenty PbA20-12 lead-acid batteries. Good for 5kWh, the battery pack should last more than 800 charge cycles, or about two years. As you would expect from something with the word "lead" in it, the batteries weigh 360 lbs — over twice as much as the standard batteries on a Prius. But the system does make it possible to drive a deadly silent 10-15 miles on pure electric power and achieve mileage of up to 100 MPG. So, is this the ultimate Prius? More »
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Motor maker Raser Technologies will team up with utility provider PG&E for a pickup truck that can get 100 MPG, according to the company's press release. The plug-in hybrid utilizes full battery power for the first 40 miles, then lets a gas-powered generator kick in enough juice for another 300 miles. Through the process of simple arithmetic, the truck has a total range of 340 miles on a full tank/charge. More »
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It turns out that a majority of Americans surveyed in a recent J.D. Power & Associates study are very enthusiastic about hybrid technology...until they find out that they have to pay for it. Continuing a long history of having cake and eating it too, 72% of consumers said they were interested in hybrid technology independent of cost. When a $5,000 cost was included in the equation, the number of respondents who were interested dropped to 46%. When consumers discovered that hybrids weren't available at Wal-Mart, interest plummeted into the single digits. More »
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There may be no better indicator that many carmakers have been unable to adjust to the sudden increase in gas prices and the resulting shift in consumer demand than hybrid sales. Although there was an obvious run to more fuel-efficient cars — witness the Civic besting the Ford F-150 in overall sales for the first time ever — hybrid sales overall were down 11% from April to May, down 24.3% month-to-month from 2007 and even the market-leading Toyota Prius experienced a 31% drop in sales for the month. How did that happen? There are a few factors at work here, which we've helpfully outlined below the jump. More »
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The Gumpart Apollo is one mean machine with its twin-turbo 4.2-liter Audi V8. But for next month's 24-hour endurance race at the Nürburgring, Gumpert will be swapping out that powertrain for something a bit more green. Since fuel economy is a key factor in a long race, the Apollo racer will be fitted with hybrid running gear. More »
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Yes, today is Earth Day, a day for Prius drivers everywhere to be extra smug about being "open-minded" or "forward thinking." But while they may think gas-electric power is some ultra-modern technology, they're wrong. Next time someone wipes their green Prius ego in your face, just tell them about this little car. It's a hybrid Toyota from 1977, based on the Sports 800. But this wasn't just ahead of it's time, it was actually cool, too. More »
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Clearly, our impending/new/ongoing recession is having an impact on the automotive industry (just ask GM and their $38 billion disappearing act). Consumers are having to ask questions they didn't have to ask in the carefree 1990's. And while small manufacturers like Maserati can aim for the extremely affluent profiting on our economic troubles, it's not as easy for others. Or is it? According to HybridCars.com's "Hybrid Market Dashboard," hybrids in the U.S. saw a year-over-year 24.9% sales increase for January 2008, compared to a 2.9% decrease for all cars sold in the U.S. More »
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We've just heard the National Federation of the Blind believes hybrid cars, when in electric-only mode, are way too silent, and therefore a possible threat to the safety of the visually impaired. According to Deborah Kent Stein, the NFB's chair of their Committee on Automotive and Pedestrian Safety, she claims she's "...used to being able to get sound cues from my environment and negotiate accordingly." In an interview with the Associated Press she says, much to her surprise, she simply has no clue when a hybrid car, running at slow speeds, is approaching. "We did a test, and I discovered, to my great dismay, that I couldn't hear it." Well boo-hoo, Deborah. Don't you know we're saving two koala bears in the arctic or something with every drop of gas we save — isn't that worth the lives of a few people without sight? [World Car Fans] More »
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Toyota recently got the OK to go into the plug-in game in Japan, and now the super-best number one awesome automaker from the land of the rising sun's looking to do the same in France. Toyota and Electricite de France SA (EDF) are working together to "evaluate Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles in Europe." Why's Toyota need EDF's help? Well, no plug-in technology's going to be considered viable unless there's an infrastructure set up for plugging in the cars. Word on the street is that although EDF's deal with Toyota is expected to cover France at first it could be extended to other countries. Maybe this was the "innovation" Toyota was talking about in their Frankfurt Auto Show press release from a few days ago. Or maybe we'll just have to wait until the Tokyo Auto Show to know for sure. Full press release below the jump. More »
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