Posts Tagged ‘Hybrid Cars’

Is $1 billion for a 100 mpg gasoline sedan an evil Republican plot?

Are we closer to 100 mpg gasoline cars than we think?

Couldn’t it also be a hybrid?

The other day I read a piece on AutoWeek slamming an idea from a Republican Congressman that I’ve never heard of that is apparently part of an evil plan by the entire Republican Party — even those few that actually helped make plug-in tax credits a reality — to crush the whole idea of increased fuel economy. $1 billion for an automaker to develop a 100 mpg gasoline sedan.

“It’s all pretend,” claimed author Davey G. Johnson.

Davey, Davey, Davey. So why then does Utah Professor of Mechanical Engineering Dan Adams disagree? Read more…

Toyota ramping up streamlined, much cheaper hybrid production

Light, cheap and fuel efficient city hybrids

The Prius C is just scratching the surface of cheap hybrid cars

Today’s small cars are already far safer than in the past. Add advanced software and telematics and small car safety will be a non-issue in the not-so-far off future. That will make lightening the load one of the easiest paths to increased fuel efficiency.

Thus, automakers envision a future of much smaller and light city vehicles, and Toyota’s latest thoughts on this concept come in the form of the FT-Bh city hybrid. Read more…

Hybrid and electric car buyers are just better

Go ahead and hate me for being intelligent and responsible

What’s the cost of not taking action?

Sure, the buyers of hybrid and electric cars don’t always make the most cost-effective choices, but many times their choices are best, even financially. For example, many hybrid cars make the best city cars and they can be far more cost-effective than non-hybrids. But even if hybrids and plug-ins are not always cost-effective, at least hybrid and plug-in buyers are taking action, at least they’re taking responsibility.

The rest of America just talks about taking action. Blah, blah, blah. Some day I’m gonna go on a diet, stop smoking, start investing, be a better person — starting tomorrow. Always tomorrow. Sure, we can all talk a big game, but few of us even show up on game day. Thus, despite some arrogance and elitism, maybe even some ignorance, hybrid and electric car buyers are still better than most other Americans. Read more…

Following the Highlander hybrid: Is US Prius production next?

Highlander hybrid production coming to the US

Another step to cheaper hybrids?

Toyota will invest $400 million in its Highlander plant in Indiana so that it can begin manufacturing the Highlander hybrid there in 2013 for US sales and to export to the rest of the world.

Is US Prius production next? Read more…

Urban Champ: New Toyota Prius C offers outstanding value

The subcompact cost-effective king for city drivers

It’s official. C hybrid should dominate city cost effectiveness

So, you need a new car, and you live in a city like Los Angeles, but you want to be as fiscally smart as possible. It’s all about the most bang for your buck. Of course, aside from automatic windows, locks and an automatic transmission, you insist on BlueTooth and USB connectivity as well – I mean, let’s be real.

Then the Toyota Prius C is the car for you. This new small and cheap hybrid car simply blows away the competition. Read more…

Thinking about a hybrid? $4.00 gas almost certain by May

Are you ready for $4.00 gasoline?

Add any escalation in Middle East tensions and much higher gasoline prices are possible

As comes summer so to does an increase in American driving, as gasoline is reformulated into summer blends. Combined these two events push gasoline prices higher in a regular seasonal event. Consequently, USAToday reports that gas prices should increase about $.60 cents nationally by May, topping the $4.00 per gallon mark.

However, add an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, for instance, and gasoline prices could surge much higher. Read more…

Lutz: Peak oil, global warming myths; electrification real

Is fracking inherently so much more dangerous than foreign oil dependence?

The new world order of energy?

If you attended the recent Deloitte & Touche oil and gas conference in Houston, you were left with one realization, according to Bob Lutz of BMW, Chrysler, Ford, and GM fame: US energy independence is now a potential reality. Thanks to an oil and natural gas boom, something even Lutz didn’t believe in until listening to the experts at the conference, OPEC independence could be achieved “in a period of a few years”.

Similarly, Lutz still believes man-caused global warming is just as much a myth as peak oil has become.

Nevertheless, despite a lack of CO2 or peak oil worries, Lutz still believes electrification is inevitable, and it won’t need to be supported by the government, at least not long term. 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…

Bad news for Toyota Prius C buyers — limited supplies

C hybrid sold out in Japan after just one month

Japanese demand for the new, smaller Prius backed up 6 months+ already

Next month was supposed to be one of the most exciting launches in the US hybrid segment ever. Finally an impressive hybrid offering for under $19,000.

Unfortunately, in the first month of Japanese Prius C sales, Toyota sold almost an entire year’s worth of intended supplies. Read more…

Will VW’s Jetta hybrid succeed where the TDI has failed?

Can the hybrid version appeal where TDI has not?

Can hybrid technology lift VW’s US sales?

Back in college an old girlfriend drove a Volkswagen Jetta. I loved it, although I was glad I had the privilege of just driving it, not owning it. That Jetta seemed to need more servicing than normal, and it was always expensive. Still, it was fun to drive. Then again, when you don’t own a car, any car seems fun to drive.

And that driving experience has made VW one of the biggest selling automakers in the world, despite an inability to truly resonate in the US. However, can the Jetta hybrid succeed where other VWs, especially the TDI’s, have failed? Read more…