We’ve seen a lot of strange things come out of Japan’s aftermarket over the years, but this might be the most ridiculous thing yet. Relax Cabin, a Japanese aftermarket company, specializes in camper conversions and apparently thought Toyota Prius owners would have a demand for such a thing. We guess there’s a remote possibility that...
Continue Reading...
The Chevrolet Volt ended the last month of 2011 with its best month of sales to date. Having sold 1,529 Volts in December, GM ended its full year of Volt sales at a total of 7,671 units for 2011. While this figure is significantly lower than its 10,000 sales goal, Fox News noted that the...
Continue Reading...
Toyota‘s upcoming Prius c is known in Japan as the Aqua hybrid, and Toyota of Japan is reporting that they’ve received 60,000 orders for the compact sedan as sales start rolling on the new hybrid. The latest hybrid model from Toyota looks to have a promising start as Toyota hopes to have a monthly sales...
Continue Reading...
Google’s mission towards to mass market autonomous vehicles took another step forward this week when they were granted a patent for a method of controlling the self-driving car. The patent details how the vehicle can transition from being human-driven to autonomous mode. The technology raises an interesting thought, where the car could transition to autonomous...
Continue Reading...
Out in Germany, a new vehicle must be inspected after three years by the TÜV, similar to America’s state-level emissions and inspection process (albeit much more rigorous). After that, residents of Germany then have to get their vehicles inspected every two years and each visit involves an extremely thorough inspection of your vehicle. Failing the...
Continue Reading...
Toyota is looking to ride their successful Prius wave to the future, hoping to revive its US sales that has taken a hit thanks to heavy recalls and the tragic earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan. With two new Prius models on the horizon, Toyota also announced they’ll be entering new market segments with hybrids,...
Continue Reading...
Subaru‘s BRZ GT300 race car is looking fabulous on the track, but we couldn’t help but wonder where Toyota‘s GT 86 race car was at the Tokyo Motor Show. Apparently nowhere, maybe not even on the minds of Toyota engineers responsible for their GT300 race car. Rather than usher in a new era of racing...
Continue Reading...
An bizarre accident over the weekend in Japan severely damaged 14 cars, eight of which were Ferraris. The other vehicles involved in the smash-up include three Mercedes-Benzes, a Lamborghini, a Nissan Skyline and a poor little Toyota Prius. According to the news report, a caravan of foreign car enthusiasts were heading from Hiroshima to Kyushu...
Continue Reading...
Toyota is banking on its plug-in Prius hybrid and other new models to help bring their sales numbers back to pre-2008 status, where Toyota had no trouble grabbing the global sales crown each year. Currently Toyota is poised to lose that trophy to General Motors, undoubtedly due to the earthquake in March in Japan and...
Continue Reading...
Believe it or not, hybrids are safer in a crash than their gasoline-only counterparts, according to a new study by the Highway Loss Data Institute. “Hybrids on average are 10 percent heavier than their standard counterparts,” Moore said in a statement today. “This extra mass gives them an advantage in crashes that their conventional twins...
Continue Reading...
Japanese car firm Toyota is already a world leader in hybrid technology. Now it seems, Toyota wants to have a similar strangle hold of the fuel-cell market. According to vice-president of product planning and marketing for Toyota Europe, Alain Uyttenhoven, Toyota is planning on selling a few thousand fuel-cell vehicles starting in 2015. Sales are...
Continue Reading...
California told 85,000 hybrid drivers to move over, literally. Now everyone is feeling the sting. Starting last July the yellow stickers allowing hybrid owners to drive alone in the high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane expired. The move came in preparation for an anticipated increase in electric vehicles on the road that will be allowed...
Continue Reading...
While the Toyota Prius has long been the automotive ambassador of the green movement, Pike Research conducted a Cost of Driving test to find out whether the all new 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-in can trump the Chevrolet Volt. According to its findings, by first establishing the price for every gallon of gas at $3.50 and...
Continue Reading...
Toyota has finally released pricing for the all-new Prius Plug-in Hybrid, setting the retail rate at $32,760 – a roughly $8,000 premium over the conventional model. At $32,760, Prius Plug-in provides more standard features like heated front seats, Entune, LED daytime running lights, an enhance keyless entry system as well as a remote start air...
Continue Reading...
There’s a huge list of reasons why anyone would want to buy a Toyota Prius these days. But despite its decent cargo space once the rear seats are folded down, the Prius has its limitations when it comes to really transporting anything of significance. So clearly the owner of this Prius loved the fuel economy...
Continue Reading...
Google has been campaigning its self-driving Toyota Prius for quite some time now, bragging that the machines have logged hundreds of thousands of miles with only one accident – when they got rear-ended at a light. But now history has been written with reports that Google’s Prius caused its first at-fault accident, ironically rear-ending a...
Continue Reading...
Toyota is clearly acknowledging how successful the Prius model has been for them when they originally announced the model’s expansion at the Detroit Motor Show this year. Now it looks like the Prius will be getting another addition to its family, including a Sports Coupe model that will be rear-wheel-drive with a manual transmission –...
Continue Reading...
For next year, Toyota will start offering AC electric outlets as an option on the Prius hybrid so drivers can plug in accessories or appliances to their car. Toyota developed the idea through the March 11 earthquake disaster in which people used the Toyota Estima hybrid van (pictured above) as a source of emergency electricity when the power...
Continue Reading...
Sales of the Prius in 2011 are expected to surpass even the number sold in 2010 says Toyota, despite the disastrous earthquake in Japan that limited production of the popular hybrid. Toyota has been shifting all its resources to ensure production of its hybrid model is top priority after hitting a 61-percent drop in June...
Continue Reading...
Honda’s best selling car in Japan for the first half of 2011 was the Fit compact, helped by the addition of a fuel-efficient hybrid model released in October. During the time period, 88,282 Fit cars were sold, interestingly sales figures dropped 2.1 percent compared to the same period last year because of disruptions caused by...
Continue Reading...
Stop/Start technology will more than triple in five years as automakers worldwide seek better fuel efficiency. This function allows a car’s engine to shut off when the vehicle is at rest, for example, at a stop light, and the engine restarts when the gas pedal is pressed. With the engine turned off for short amounts...
Continue Reading...
America’s ongoing insatiable desire for the Toyota Prius is about to be sated: the Japanese factory is sending 36,000 examples our way, just in time for summer. Global availability of the Prius is still low. Currently, the Prius is at a 4-day supply in America and many dealers don’t have a single example on their...
Continue Reading...
Even with high gas prices, Americans are choosing fuel effiecient compacts with conventional gas engines over pricier gas-electric hybrids. Sales have steadily increased with the Hyundai Elantra, Ford Focus and Chevrolet Cruze while hybrids are showing little activity. Hybrid sales in the U.S peaked in July,2009 peaking at 3.6% and last month sales were down...
Continue Reading...
When Toyota‘s Prius Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle finally makes it to market next year it will come with two new features that weren’t on the prototype we first drove last October. The first of the tech additions will be a driver-selectable EV mode, while the second will be a full regenerative braking system. Allow us to...
Continue Reading...
sidebar...
