Just ten weeks ago it was all on paper and in the minds of some very cleaver people. Toyota Prius Projects needed someone who would be able to create such a bike, and that fell to Parlee Cycle, along with DeepLocal. The two worked side-by-side to come up with what we have today, but it was not easy. Some of the technology was not out there so had was designed and implemented onto the bike.

Last week was the final week of the project, and you will see in the video below just how far things have come. Now that the bike has its white paint it looks more like the sketches than anyone had thought, which is a testament to the hard work by all involved. Seeing that bike all put together must have been one of those moments when someone just wanted to jump on and give it a test ride?

Prolly is not Probably has been following the project for over ten weeks now, so felt fitting that they were on hand to see the first test ride. The guy who this job fell too must have been feeling some anxiety, as he knew that a lot was riding on this test? With sheer concentration the gears actually started to shift with just thought alone, and got much easier as the rider got used to it.

It must have been a strange experience for him; surly he felt the urge to change his gears manually? Every time you drive an automatic car there are sometimes these urges to still try to change gear yourself, as it is just instinct. It will be exiting to see how long it will be before such a bike makes it to the consumers? We say this because most of what has been used is available, those that are not will be soon. Could the bike be about to change, as the design has been stagnant for decades now?

The problem with the Prius was that it was a newly designed vehicle, and not one that we all knew and loved. However, that has all changed now that the likes of Ford, BMW, Audi, Lexus etc has got in on the act. Now in 2011 we will start to see a number of new models – with designs that we are more familiar with.

No more are Hybrids just plain boring cars with only fuel-economy in mind and nothing else, and the 2011 Lexus CT 200h is proof of that. This car has a sporty look and feel to it, and with four different driving modes it offers more than a standard wagon ever could.

Most carmakers know the importance of the Hybrid, which is why Porsche has the Cayenne S Hybrid option. Who would have thought that a brand with a racing pedigree like this would ever move into this market? Maybe Ferrari and Lamborghini will be next?

There is no denying how popular the Prius has been, so one would assume that this will also be the case with the 2011 Toyota Camry Hybrid – although there has been other version of this and there are not many changes to this model.

Finally we have the Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid and sits a little lower to the ground than the gas version; but do not let that put you off, as there are a number of features to this model that makes it a must-have for those wanting a more fuel-efficient vehicle but with a more aggressive stance. For a more complete list visit Motor Trend.

What Hybrid will you be choosing for 2011?

So we already know the main three, but there are still plenty of other green vehicles to choose from, but what are they? The Daily Green has compiled a list of what they believe to be the most fuel-efficient cars of 2011, and do not think that they are all electric either – not that there is many.

The Nissan leaf has to be on the list, but we just hope that poor sales in December were just a glitch with supply, and that the car begins to take off. The Chevy Volt got off to a much better start, but the gas/electric hybrid has yet to go national or even international. The Prius, is still the king when it comes to sales, but we have been told on a number of occasions that there are some clean diesels that outperform it in fuel-efficiency – but only when drove at higher speeds.

There is an electric car that needs a mention, and that is the 2011 Tesla Roadster. This sports car produces 0 Tons of CO2, but it does come at a price – $109,000 to be exact. We were shocked to see the 2011 Lexus CT 200h make it to the list, but when you see the 42MPG rating then you will understand just why it is on that list.

For the complete list visit The Daily Green website.

One car that we cannot wait to see on that list next year is the 2012 Ford Escape Hybrid, as it will look a lot like the new Vertrek. The Detroit based company will no doubt use their popular Kinetic Design. For more details on this visit GreenCarReports.

The limited edition hybrid will only be available in the UK and will cost £26,150 ($41,690), Americans will notice how much extra UK driver have to pay for a car – UK taxes I’m afraid. So let us see what we get for the extra few pounds then?

Toyota wants to try and appeal to the younger driver, so will give the Prius Generation X a sportier look, some of the new features include: 17-inch rims, side skirts, front and rear fascia and tinted windows.

The interior has also seen a bit of a makeover, such as leather seats with a 10th anniversary logo embossed into them, parking assist, sat-nav, and cruise control. Not certain if these few extra bits will appeal to the younger driver, not with the lack of performance from these vehicles? More details on this limited edition Prius at Huliq.

Toyota is also working on a MPV 7 seater version of the Prius, more details here.

So, for those of you who could not work out what market the Volt will fit in to, then from what we understand it is more like the Toyota Prius and less like the Nissan Leaf. The reason why I say this is the fact that a small amount of power from the gasoline engine can be used to turn the wheels.

Now I am not a mechanic, but this is the same concept that hybrid vehicles use. What I do not understand is, when GM first announced the Chevrolet Volt they said that energy from the normal engine would help to charge the batteries only.

Tim Stevens from Engadget has now studied a number of articles, and now has a greater understanding as to why GM did not tell us from the start that the Volt was in fact a Hybrid.

What do you make of the discovery of the Chevy Volt?

Google is known for using state-of-the-art software when it comes to the services that they provide, so comes as no surprise that this Prius is using AI software to control the car. The system is able to sense other cars around it, and is said to be able to make the same decisions that a human driver would make, but much faster.

Google has used seven cars in these tests, which have driven 1,000 miles without human input. However, more than 140,000 miles has been covered with just a little interaction from the driver.

According to an article on the New York Times by John Markoff, there are still a few years yet until we will see fully autonomous vehicles on our roads – certainly seems weird that the search engine giant is heavily involved in such a project.

As a child I grew up watching Knight Rider, if I had the chance to drive one of these vehicles I would feel the urge to put a red light on the front of the car and put on a tight leather jacket.

There have been a number of rumors as to what the new Toyota Prius Minivan will look like, which is believed to be called the Alpha. Looking at the images we can see that the design looks to be slightly higher than the standard Prius Hybrid, but looks to be much longer.

You can clearly see from the spy photos that it is a Prius, and that there will be more cabin space. Looking closely at the images it seems that the doors are standard, instead of those sliding ones that we have been seeing on a number of minivans on the market.

The new version of the Toyota Prius should be released some time in 2012 with two other models, until then we hope to see some clearer photos make their way to the web.

Do you think that the new Prius will be as popular as the current version?

This is good news for Toyota, as they seem to be getting nothing but bad press just lately. The NHTSA retrieved the onboard computer from the 2005 Prius and found that the brakes were not applied; the investigation also showed that the gas pedal was fully open at the time of the crash.

The Harrison police department head said that this was “irresponsible and premature,” stating that the investigation is still ongoing with more data waiting to be analyzed. The police have yet to identify the woman who made the claim that her brakes had failed.

According to USA Today, the police department in Harrison said that there are still sheets of data to go through, which they are meeting Toyota for today.

Because of the spotlight on Toyota for unintended acceleration, both Toyota and NHTSA sent investigators to Harrison. The faulty brakes and gas pedals on these hybrid cars are not to be taken lightly – 52 people have lost their lives due to this sudden acceleration.

As reported from TimesOnline, sales of the Prius have fallen, and it now looks likely that production will be capped to just 45,000 vehicles per month, compared to 50,000 vehicles a month previously.

Prius models were recalled over a braking problem, which particularly affected cars in icy or bumpy weather conditions.

Aside from the ongoing recall, Toyota are also having to deal with a series of lawsuits – which we told you about in our previous article here.

Full story through the link.

As reported from CNET, U.S. government agency and Toyota attempted to replicate the now infamous runaway Prius incident in San Diego, but failed to do so.

An official memo for the incident has now detailed that it is ‘not likely’ that the gas pedal would be stuck while hitting the brakes at the same time, contrary to reports from James Sikes, the Prius owner in question.

Officials are now saying the whole thing ‘does not add up’, which is now likely to lead to a further investigation until a conclusion can be met.

Full article through the link, let us know your thoughts on it.