New Honda Insight: cheapest hybrid car to battle Toyota Prius
September 4, 2008 by Peter
Filed under Autos, Hatchback Cars, Hybrid Cars
Honda has launched the world’s cheapest hybrid car, the Insight. Honda hopes that the cheap price will be enough to win motorists because of the high price of fuel. Honda hopes to sell the new insight between £13,000 and £15,000. This will undercut the Toyota Prius by £3,000.
Honda expects to sell about 200,000 Insights a year around the world; this is a lot more than the 280,000 that they sold over ten years. The new model will be unveiled officially at next month’s Paris motor show.
The five door family hatchback should be able to deliver 60 miles to the gallon. The new Honda Insight will go on sale around the world in the spring and forms part of the four new hybrid cars from Honda.
Source – The Telegraph
2009 Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner earn 5-star rating
August 18, 2008 by Daniel
Filed under Autos, Press Releases
The 2009 Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner compact sport utility vehicles added to Ford’s leading number of top-safety-rated vehicles by earning five stars in each of the government’s crash-worthiness tests. The results top the Toyota RAV-4 and, with the 2009 Escape’s improved fuel efficiency, offer better combined safety and fuel efficiency ratings than the Honda CR-V Read more
Toyota plans solar-powered air conditioning in Prius hybrid
July 7, 2008 by Daniel
Filed under Autos, Hybrid Cars
Back in May we reported that the Toyota Prius Hybrid had achieved over one million car sales, this was great news for global warming and today we have heard some more news about Toyota’s efforts in this area.
Toyota are planning to put solar-powered air conditioning in high-end Prius hybrid models, this new feature will show that the Prius is a car that wants to be good for the environment.
The third-generation Toyota Prius will launch in 2009 and Kyocera solar panels will be used to generate between two and five kilowatts of electricity.
While Toyota has not commented officially on this news, it is believed to be a solid rumor.
With oil prices rising we will all have to look towards cars that use less oil and give more kilometers per gallon, this is one reason why the sales of Prius have been increasing.
How have oil prices affected you and will you be looking towards hybrid cars in the near future?
Source: Read
Toyota Prius Hybrid Car sales hit over 1 million: Surely this eases global warming
May 16, 2008 by Mark
Filed under Autos, Green, Hybrid Cars
The demand for hybrid cars are increasing worldwide and with the Toyota Prius gasoline/hybrid car hitting sales of over I million worldwide this surely has to ease global warming. The Toyota Prius Hybrid is definitely a winner and we can see sales keep on going, Toyota have said the figure of Prius sales so far is 1,028,000 last month when their sales rocked 67 percent amid record gas prices and that also claims that the cars have eased global warming by producing around about 4.5 million tons less C02 when compared with gasoline-powered vehicles in the same class.
Even though Toyota have impressive sales figures it is said that Hybrids are still pretty low at 2.3 percent of the U.S market, we all know that in time people will dump their high guzzling gas motors for hybrids, hybrid sales have in fact at the moment rose 38 percent last year even as overall vehicle sales fell and we know with gas prices rising to very high costs Toyota are indeed having troubles keeping up with demands for the Prius.
Buyers are in fact paying much more for the Toyota Prius because they are hard to get a hold of and are getting much harder to find in showrooms, John Hanson a spokesman for Toyota said “Right now, U.S. customers can get a Prius. Next month or the month after that, it’s tough to say.”
With supplies falling and high demands from customers Toyota has cut incentives and raised prices (Now we knew that was coming) and the Toyota Prius on an average costs $25,274 which has risen $869 from a year ago. It seems that the Prius is in high demand and that is without a doubt because it is an eco-friendly vehicle and we all know that customers are going down the Hybrid road, Toyota has expanded their line to include the Highlander and Camry. Toyota are going to unveil the next generation model of the Prius at the Detroit auto show in January and it will apparently be cleaner, bigger and much more fuel efficient, they are also developing a plug-in version that could be in showrooms by 2010. Oh just so you know they are going down the convertible line as well, but no word on this yet.
Li-Ion Batteries helps extend range of Chevrolet Volt to 40 miles
May 16, 2008 by Peter
Filed under Autos, Green, Hybrid Cars
General Motors have been working hard on their lithium-ion battery technology, and the automaker are making great progress as they have now managed to achieve a range of 40 miles on their Chevrolet Volt test vehicle, this is a great achievement and will help the company in their effort to getting the production vehicle made by 2010. Bob Lutz who is the company Vice Chairman has said that this new gas-electric hybrid drivetrain which is being tested on the Chevrolet Volt is reliable and is meeting its objectives, this is key to the development process for improving the range of these batteries.
It seems that the company is very confidant about the new Li-Ion Battery as Lutz has said that the development of the battery is the least of their problems. GM now have a tough challenge ahead, as the automaker needs to be able to integrate the battery drivetrain as well as the gasoline engine smoothly. The new Volt will be different to other Hybrid vehicles like the Toyota Prius as the wheels will be driven entirely by electricity, the gasoline engine will help to power the generator which will help to charge the batteries.
The team behind the development of the Volt still has a lot of questions that they need to address first, like how will the car deal with cold conditions, or when will the engine cut out. GM are hoping to be able to achieve a range of at least 640 miles, the company are very confidant that this can be achieved by 2010.
Toyota Prius Price Increase: paying $400 more for greener environment
Toyota has announced that they are to increase the price of their ever popular Prius by $400 as well as some of their other vehicles; this is so that the Japanese automaker can prop up their profits. This seems a stupid idea, ok I agree that if they need to increase profits increase the price of their cars that run just on gas, but they should keep the price down on the Hybrid Prius so that sales can increase. Toyota should make greener cars more affordable as people do not want to pay over the top to achieve a greener environment.
The price for the Prius hybrid will now cost $22,160 while the hybrid Camry will now set you back $25,650. The Yaris sedan will now cost $13,085 with the hatchback costing $12,210. However it is the price of 2008 FJ Cruiser SUV that has increased the most, the vehicle will now cost $23,730 that’s an increase of $500. Toyota are a very strange company, some American automakers are having trouble shifting some of their cars and as such makers like Chrysler has offered a gas subsidy for those who choose fuel-efficient models, however Toyota are not so bothered about this.
Source - Consumeraffairs
Do you think that Toyota is correct to increase the price of the Prius?
Confirmed at Last: Toyota’s plans to launch plug-in hybrid by 2010
January 14, 2008 by Daniel
Filed under Autos, Hybrid Cars
Back on November 10th, 2007 we spoke about a plug-in Toyota Prius hybrid insight, but at the time a senior Toyota executive declined to give any idea on a possible launch date.
Well now all that has changed as at the Detroit Auto Show, Katsuaki Watanabe confirmed Toyota has plans to launch a plug-in hybrid by 2010 Read more
Plug-in Toyota Prius hybrid insight
November 10, 2007 by Daniel
Filed under Autos, Hybrid Cars
Back in August Peter reported on a video that showed how to convert a Toyota Prius hybrid in to a Plug-in, the benefit was getting 100 mpg.
Well now it looks like an official plug-in Toyota Prius hybrid might be insight as Toyota Motor Corp Read more
6-door Toyota Prius limo: This is the opposite of what the Hybrid is about
October 18, 2007 by Peter
Filed under Autos, Custom Cars, Hatchback Cars, Hybrid Cars
The idea of a Toyota Prius Hybrid is to be fuel efficient, so the news that someone has converted the vehicle into a 6-door limo. If you are a Read more
Preview of the Toyota Crown Hybrid concept at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show
October 10, 2007 by Peter
Filed under Autos, Concept Cars, Hybrid Cars, Sedans & Saloons
The Toyota Crown has now been around in Japan for something 50 years and if you thought that the model was looking a bit tired, do not worry as Toyota are now taking the car into the Read more
Peru Blood Banks Closed After Four People Were Infected With HIV
240 blood banks in Peru have been closed by officials after at least four people were infected with HIV from blood transfusions in a public hospital. Carlos Vallejos, Health Minister has said the blood banks will be inspected by a commission that will include officials from the World Health Organisation. Read more
Spy shot of the next generation 2009 Toyota Prius Hybrid
The next generation Toyota Prius Hybrid was originally due for release in 2008, well it will not be out to sometime in 2009 so to keep you lot happy we have a Read more
Toyota and Lexus hybrid vehicles European sales top the 100,000 mark
September 3, 2007 by Peter
Filed under Autos, Hybrid Cars
Toyota Motor Europe has something to celebrate as their Toyota and Lexus hybrid vehicles top the 100,000 mark in European sales. The vehicles were launched way back in Read more
Toyota to show off a new small car concept at next month’s Frankfurt Motor Show
August 28, 2007 by Peter
Filed under Autos, Concept Cars
Looks like Toyota are joining the same small car part as both Ford and Volkswagen, as they will show of a small car concept at next month’s Read more
Rebecca Romijn and Jerry O’Connell: a green couple who share a Toyota Prius Hybrid
August 17, 2007 by Peter
Filed under Autos, Celebrity News, Green, Hybrid Cars
We always get reports of Hollywood stars who own a hybrid vehicle, but we never see them out in these green vehicles much. Well Rebecca Romijn and Jerry O’Connell is a couple with a Read more
Jennifer Coolidge and Rex Lee auction their Toyota Prius for those living with HIV/AIDS
Many of our favorite stars in Hollywood drive around in a Toyota Prius, and two of these stars are Jennifer Coolidge and Rex Lee. Jennifer is better known as Read more
Toyota boss bets $100 that they will produce the first lithium-ion vehicle
The VP of Toyota has made a $100 bet that they will be the first automaker to produce a lithium-ion vehicle. Toyota has accepted defeat to GM, as they will most likely be the Read more
Video shows how to convert your Toyota Prius hybrid in to a Plug-in and get 100 mpg
August 10, 2007 by Peter
Filed under Autos, Green, Hybrid Cars
Like many of us Ryan Fulcher is not one of those men who worries about carbon neutral or he does not try to change his driving style in order to be a Read more
Top 5 safest 2007 hybrid vehicles Who came first
August 9, 2007 by Peter
Filed under Autos, Hybrid Cars
We know that buying a Hybrid vehicle you are doing your bit to help save our planet against global warming, but the thing is how safe are these Read more
Electric and Hybrid Smart Cars: Fuel efficiency gone mad
August 6, 2007 by Peter
Filed under Autos, Hybrid Cars
The Smart car is not known for its speed but what it is known for is its superb fuel efficiency, which is why we thought it was very strange to hear that there is to be an Electric and Hybrid version of this small Mercedes vehicle. The electric version will have a Read more
