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Motor Authority - blog Category: Prius

  • Report: Toyota plans to mass produce plug-in hybrids by 2012

    Report: Toyota plans to mass produce plug-in hybrids by 2012 July 6th, 2009 ByJeremy Weber Jeremy Weber, Author, July 6th, 2009 Jeremy Weber 11 Comments

    Report: Toyota plans to mass produce plug-in hybrids by 2012 Toyota has already confirmed it will release a plug-in hybrid vehicle powered by next-generation lithium-ion batteries in Japan, the U.S. and Europe sometime next year but production of these will be limited and only commercial and government fleets are expected to receive the cars. Mass production of Toyota’s plug-in hybrid isn’t expected to kick in until 2012, according to latest reports.

    Japan’s Nikkei business daily is reporting that Toyota will build roughly 20,000 to 30,000 plug-in hybrids in 2012, almost two years after closest rival General Motors starts producing its Chevrolet Volt.

    A version of Toyota’s... Toyota has already confirmed it will release a plug-in hybrid vehicle powered by next-generation lithium-ion batteries in Japan, the U.S. and Europe sometime next year but production of these will be limited and only commercial and government fleets are expected to receive the cars. Mass production of Toyota’s plug-in hybrid isn’t expected to kick in until 2012, according to latest reports. Japan’s Nikkei business daily is reporting that Toyota will build roughly 20,000 to 30,000 plug-in hybrids in 2012, almost two years after closest rival General Motors starts producing its Chevrolet Volt. A version of Toyota’s plug-in hybrid based on the conventional Prius hybrid will go on sale in Japan this month to fleet customers, and according to the same reports it will be priced at ¥4.59 million (approximately $47,800). It will run on lithium-ion batteries supplied by Panasonic EV Energy and will reportedly be able to travel up to 18.6 miles on electric power alone. Toyota wasn’t willing to confirm any of the latest detail but the automaker has previously confirmed that trials of 500 Prius plug-in hybrids will start at the end of the year. The cars will be leased to government and commercial fleets, with 200 set to stay in Japan, a further 150 headed to Europe and the final 150 reserved for the U.S. market. The Prius plug-in hybrids are already averaging 65mpg in the combined cycle during initial testing - that's a 30% improvement over the standard 2010 Prius, recently certified as the most efficient hybrid in America.Toyota plug-in hybrid Prius in UK Read More

  • Japan looking to make hybrid vehicles noisy

    Japan looking to make hybrid vehicles noisy July 3rd, 2009 ByJeremy Weber Jeremy Weber, Author, July 3rd, 2009 Jeremy Weber 6 Comments

    Japan looking to make hybrid vehicles noisy Although the relative silence of hybrid vehicles has made them the choice of TV gangsters for drive-by shootings, the rest of the world is less than enamored with the difficulty involved in hearing one coming - especially when trying to cross the street. This phenomenon has inspired companies like Lotus to engineer a system that re-creates the sound of a normal car, and now the issue of whether such devices should become mandatory for hybrid vehicles is being discussed in Japan.

    The problem lies in the design of the electric motors found in hybrid vehicles as they run almost silently when the car is driving on electric power alone. This... Although the relative silence of hybrid vehicles has made them the choice of TV gangsters for drive-by shootings, the rest of the world is less than enamored with the difficulty involved in hearing one coming - especially when trying to cross the street. This phenomenon has inspired companies like Lotus to engineer a system that re-creates the sound of a normal car, and now the issue of whether such devices should become mandatory for hybrid vehicles is being discussed in Japan. The problem lies in the design of the electric motors found in hybrid vehicles as they run almost silently when the car is driving on electric power alone. This has ruffled a few feathers with the vision-impaired, especially now that hybrid vehicles are the top sellers in Japan. "We have received opinions from automobile users and vision-impaired people that they feel hybrid vehicles are dangerous," a transport ministry official explained to the Associated Press. "Blind people depend on sounds when they walk, but there are no engine sounds from hybrid vehicles when running at low speed" and on the electric motor, he said. The Japanese government has now established a panel consisting of scholars, vision-impaired groups, consumers, police and the automobile industry to discuss the matter. One of the possible solutions the panel has come up with is to introduce a sound-making function in the hybrid vehicles. Lotus has already developed such a feature called Safe & Sound, which uses a combination of speakers, microphones and advanced processing to deliver a quiet cabin ride while also ensuring the people outside the car can hear it coming by simulating a brawnier combustion engine's sound. The technology is already available to automakers but so far no hybrid vehicles have featured it. Read More

  • Toyota-GM hybrid partnership rumors stir again

    Toyota-GM hybrid partnership rumors stir again June 29th, 2009 ByRalph Hanson Ralph Hanson, Author, June 29th, 2009 Ralph Hanson 0 Comments

    Toyota-GM hybrid partnership rumors stir again Just ten days ago, General Motors denied a story that it was planning to license Toyota's hybrid Synergy Drive system, but today a new report has broken claiming Toyota could offer GM the Prius hybrid, to be re-branded as a GM product.

    Aside from being completely off the wall, the report doesn't really sit well with the direction GM has taken on its own two-mode hybrid products and development of the Volt.

    On the other hand, with today's announcement that GM will be withdrawing from the New United Motor Manufacturing Incorporated (NUMMI) joint venture with Toyota in California, perhaps a re-branded Prius makes sense. It's at least likely... Just ten days ago, General Motors denied a story that it was planning to license Toyota's hybrid Synergy Drive system, but today a new report has broken claiming Toyota could offer GM the Prius hybrid, to be re-branded as a GM product. Aside from being completely off the wall, the report doesn't really sit well with the direction GM has taken on its own two-mode hybrid products and development of the Volt. On the other hand, with today's announcement that GM will be withdrawing from the New United Motor Manufacturing Incorporated (NUMMI) joint venture with Toyota in California, perhaps a re-branded Prius makes sense. It's at least likely that the topic came up as part of the discussions that led to GM's decision to pull out of NUMMI. "After extensive analysis, GM and Toyota could not reach an agreement on a future product plan that made sense for all parties," said Troy Clarke, president GM North America. Clarke also said in his statement on the NUMMI that GM and Toyota had no future vehicles planned for their joint venture. However, the Prius is already under consideration for production at the NUMMI site since plans to build the car at its Mississippi plant fell through, reports Bloomberg. The presence of domestically-produced Prius-based hybrids from a company GM has a long history of partnership with might be too good to refuse. But with modern product delivery timelines what they are, getting a re-branded Prius through the approval process and into production would likely land it right in the middle of the Volt's planned late 2010 debut. Of course, Toyota could always just use the Prius production from the former joint-venture site for its own U.S. sales to meet the huge demand it is facing for its latest hybrid.2010 Toyota Prius Read More

  • GM pitching Volt as sporty, green alternative to Prius, Insight

    GM pitching Volt as sporty, green alternative to Prius, Insight June 29th, 2009 ByRalph Hanson Ralph Hanson, Author, June 29th, 2009 Ralph Hanson 0 Comments

    GM pitching Volt as sporty, green alternative to Prius, Insight At first glance, there's very little to differentiate the main contenders for your hybrid sedan dollar - the new Insight looks remarkably like the Prius. For that matter, so does the upcoming Chevrolet Volt. Aerodynamic necessity is a harsh master. But General Motors is planning to set the Volt apart from the crowd on its sporty demeanor.

    Sporty is definitely not an adjective that can fairly be applied to either the 2010 Honda Insight or the 2010 Toyota Prius, though both are efficient and fun in their own way. Chevrolet is hoping its torquey electric-drive vehicle will shine with a superior chassis and more dynamic driving experience,... At first glance, there's very little to differentiate the main contenders for your hybrid sedan dollar - the new Insight looks remarkably like the Prius. For that matter, so does the upcoming Chevrolet Volt. Aerodynamic necessity is a harsh master. But General Motors is planning to set the Volt apart from the crowd on its sporty demeanor. Sporty is definitely not an adjective that can fairly be applied to either the 2010 Honda Insight or the 2010 Toyota Prius, though both are efficient and fun in their own way. Chevrolet is hoping its torquey electric-drive vehicle will shine with a superior chassis and more dynamic driving experience, however, reports Edmunds. If that angle does play out successfully for GM, it will be a huge move, as the Volt is expected to out-do the Prius and Insight on fuel economy too, as its range-extended electric vehicle (engineers are quick to point out it's not a hybrid) architecture will allow for 40mi (64km) of electric-only driving. Just last week, the first integration prototypes were officially christened for testing, and work on the car is moving ahead on schedule for a late 2010 launch. Check out some of our previous coverage for more details on the upcoming Volt.2011 Chevrolet Volt pre-production prototype Read More

  • Toyota to lease 500 Prius plug-in hybrids this year, 150 coming to U.S.

    Toyota to lease 500 Prius plug-in hybrids this year, 150 coming to U.S. June 3rd, 2009 ByAlex Kaufmann Alex Kaufmann, Author, June 3rd, 2009 Alex Kaufmann 2 Comments

    Toyota to lease 500 Prius plug-in hybrids this year, 150 coming to U.S. It's important to have a broad perspective in the auto business - tunnel-vision has been one of the biggest criticism of the American automakers. But seeing beyond the trees of economic meltdown to view the forest of the future industry is easier said than done. Toyota, however, is demonstrating its green-thinking by accelerating plans to start global trials of 500 plug-in hybrids by the end of the year.

    The cars will be leased to government and commercial fleets, with 200 set to stay in Japan, a further 150 headed to Europe and the final 150 reserved for the U.S. market. The Prius plug-in hybrids are already averaging 65mpg in the... It's important to have a broad perspective in the auto business - tunnel-vision has been one of the biggest criticism of the American automakers. But seeing beyond the trees of economic meltdown to view the forest of the future industry is easier said than done. Toyota, however, is demonstrating its green-thinking by accelerating plans to start global trials of 500 plug-in hybrids by the end of the year. The cars will be leased to government and commercial fleets, with 200 set to stay in Japan, a further 150 headed to Europe and the final 150 reserved for the U.S. market. The Prius plug-in hybrids are already averaging 65mpg in the combined cycle during initial testing - that's a 30% improvement over the standard 2010 Prius, recently certified as the most efficient hybrid in America. "We have to look beyond the current financial crisis. We have to focus on R&D for today and the future," Toyota Europe CEO Tadashi Aarashima told Automotive News. Emissions rules, fuel pricing and technology cost are all pointing toward hybrid success in the future, says Arashima, but surprisingly Toyota itself doubts the widespread acceptance of plug-in hybrids. Furthermore, some are arguing plug-in hybrids may be too expensive to justify, though Toyota's tack seems to be headed in the right direction.Toyota plug-in hybrid Prius in UK2010 Toyota Prius Read More

  • Study: Hybrids to make up one in five U.S. car sales by 2020

    Study: Hybrids to make up one in five U.S. car sales by 2020 May 27th, 2009 By Nelson Ireson Nelson Ireson, Author, May 27th, 2009 Nelson Ireson 0 Comments

    Study: Hybrids to make up one in five U.S. car sales by 2020 Just a bit over ten years ago, only a few of the dedicated had any idea what a hybrid car was, but in another ten years or so, the eco-friendly vehicles will account for 19.4% of total sales in the U.S., according to JP Morgan's latest estimates.

    Today hybrids make up a little less than 1% of the cars sold around the world, totaling about 480,000 in 2008 - most of those in the U.S. That leaves a lot of growth to be done by 2020, but with ever-stricter emissions rules, more favorable incentives and higher fuel economy standards, the hybrid will soon be getting an even push from both consumers and government.

    Also playing into the JP Morgan... Just a bit over ten years ago, only a few of the dedicated had any idea what a hybrid car was, but in another ten years or so, the eco-friendly vehicles will account for 19.4% of total sales in the U.S., according to JP Morgan's latest estimates. Today hybrids make up a little less than 1% of the cars sold around the world, totaling about 480,000 in 2008 - most of those in the U.S. That leaves a lot of growth to be done by 2020, but with ever-stricter emissions rules, more favorable incentives and higher fuel economy standards, the hybrid will soon be getting an even push from both consumers and government. Also playing into the JP Morgan calculus is the likelihood of higher - perhaps much higher - fuel prices in the future. As a motivating factor, fuel prices are a proven spur to hybrid sales - all one needs to do is to consult 2008's sales figures. Back then, even with the looming financial apocalypse, hybrid sales were booming. Looking between now and 2020, one benefit of the proliferation of the electric/combustion technology will be a decrease in per-unit cost. Right now hybrids cost about $5,667 more than their standard counterparts, but by 2020 that's estimated to plummet to just $1,890. JP Morgan's estimate significantly outstrips JD Power's predicted tripling of sales by 2015, though the JD Power study also studied diesel sales. Via: AllCarsElectric Read More

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