Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid

Dealer markups are back for some hybrids and plug-ins

Will you have to pay more than sticker on a Toyota Prius c?

To the highest bidder wins?

If you’ve been following the battery-powered scene for the last several years, then I’m sure you remember the sad old days of 2007-2008 for hybrid car buyers. Thanks to the gas spike then dealer markups on hybrid cars were a common occurrence. In the worst case scenario Toyota Prius hybrids were being marked up $5,000 or more above MSRP with an additional $5,000 worth of dealer add-ons.

Unfortunately, dealer markups on hybrids and plug-ins appear to be back. Read more…

Toyota Prius plug-in tops April plug-in sales

Prius is hybrid and plug-in king in April

Chevy Volt recedes a bit from last month’s big numbers

Sales of both GM and Nissan plug-in cars declined last month compared to the month before. However, the Toyota Prius plug-in achieved its best month of plug-in sales yet at 1,654 units.

GM claimed limited California supplies. Nissan stood by its 20,000 sale’s target. And Ford, well Ford just decided not to sell any plug-ins in April. Read more…

Hybrids, plug-ins dominate best cars for An American Terrorist

The best car for An American Terrorist

Fighting foreign oil dependence one car at a time

As I’ve argued numerous times, the only thing that is really going to change American energy policy and consumer purchasing is a revolution in consumer psychology, outside of either force, or an almost miracle technological breakthrough. That’s the idea behind An American Terrorist. To shake up the energy independence conversation.

Anyway, the Nissan Leaf took top honors amongst the 5 best cars for An American Terrorist. Read more…

What if every automaker sold almost 30,000 hybrids last month?

Toyota Prius - dumbest idea ever

When optimism is worse than pessimism

I believe one day fuel cells and hydrogen will become viable technologies. When, however, is practically anyone’s guess, but fuel cells prove that avoiding action today while waiting for perfect world solutions tomorrow is a very bad idea. Otherwise, there might have been real change after the Iranian oil embargo that could have prevented 9/11, Iraq, Libya, and now Iran again.

Ironically, last month Toyota sold nearly 30,000 hybrid cars built on technologies largely developed, or at least inspired, here in the US, mostly derived from fuel cell-related technologies significantly subsided by US taxpayers.

That makes me wonder, what if the Big 3 hadn’t given up on hybrids, and all the major automakers sold nearly 30,000 hybrid cars last month?

And, more disconcerting, have plug-ins become a fuel cell-like excuse not to do more today? Read more…

Lithium revolution dependent upon Toyota and hybrid cars

Plug-in Prius too rationale for electrification hype

OPUD: Over-promising and under-delivering the battery-powered future

I find it terribly unsettling how often fans of electrification ridicule Toyota. They don’t even use lithium in their conventional hybrid cars, they claim. As if all the lithium powered mild hybrids, full hybrids, plug-in hybrids and electric cars on the market today are dwarfing Toyota’s NiMH-powered sale’s advantage. In fact, if not for Toyota’s NiMH hybrids, there would have been far less cause for other automakers to try to leapfrog Toyota’s Prius with plug-ins like the Volt or the Leaf — which are more halo than sale’s products today.

Likewise, it is often claimed that Toyota’s upcoming plug-in hybrids don’t offer enough electric range, even though it’s beyond obvious that the key to plug-in success isn’t really about range today, it’s about cost.

Even more ironic, it seems quite obvious that the lithium revolution in the automotive space itself has become dependent upon Toyota, at least if it’s going to happen anytime soon. Read more…

Taking on the future: Model S versus Volt versus Prius plug-in

Tesla's EV range superstar

A few thoughts about battery strategies

Getting old sure is fun, and funny, especially in terms of technology. As a boy, renting a VCR for the weekend was one of the greatest technological highlights of my pre-teen years. Of course, eventually my family bought a VCR, with no regard to the whole betamax versus vhs debate. Ultimately, the only thing that mattered to my parents was price.

And that brings me to the future of the battery-powered car and the battery strategies being utilized in the Tesla Model S, the Chevy Volt and the Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid.

Which is better? Which is smarter? Read more…

Ford’s latest hybrid promises still come up a little short

Ford is serving up some great marketing numbers

A battery-powered improvement, but still no real guts

Quite soon Ford will offer an EV with the most range with 5 seats, a hybrid that bests the Toyota Prius V, and a plug-in hybrid with greater electric range than the upcoming Toyota Prius plug-in.

So, Ford is set to top Toyota as the battery king?

Not quite. And, if Ford really wanted to make a battery-powered statement, wouldn’t it start by taking on the conventional Prius first? Read more…

Toyota Prius C: Instantly the best selling hybrid in America

Toyota has high hopes for the smaller Prius C.

Or at least close according to Toyota

By 2015 hybrid cars should make up around 20 percent of all Toyota vehicle sales in the US according to the Automotive News. That means more hybrid options, even for Toyota pickup trucks like the Tacoma.

But the one hybrid that Toyota is really betting its sale’s surge upon is the Prius C, the smaller Prius set for release this Spring. Read more…

Hybrid sales primed to “take off” claims hybrid king

The Prius V at its debut. Now available.

Starting as early as November

When Japan was rocked by an earthquake and tsunami this Spring, Toyota stopped building the Prius hybrid for almost 90 days. So the fact that Prius and overall hybrid sales are down this year compared to last year is a sort of a ‘no duh’ to Toyota’s Jim Lentz, president of Toyota’s U.S. sales unit. In fact, Lentz believes that demand for hybrid cars is just as robust as ever — at least for Toyota hybrids.

And beginning in November and into next year Lentz is predicting a hybrid sale’s surge. Read more…

Would lithium make the Toyota Prius 4 much better?

Will a sports coupe help usher in the lithium-based Prius 4?

Or is a split battery approach the best option for the fourth generation Prius?

When Toyota launched the third generation Toyota Prius without lithium, there was some disappointment. Likewise, when Toyota announced that the 2012 Toyota Camry hybrid would also continue to use NiMH batteries, there was further disappointment.

However, I’ve never agreed with this NiMH-based disappointment, and while I think the fourth generation Toyota Prius 4 will offer lithium, I believe NiHM could still play an important role in Toyota’s hybrids for some time. Read more…