My Perfect Automobile » prius plug-in

Toyota Switching to Lithium Batteries?

Larry Bell — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:18:08 +0000

Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid car

Japanese media sources are reporting that Toyota Motor Co. will soon ramp up its production of lithium batteries by at least six-fold. The company apparently wants to use the packs in its Prius hybrid automobiles. Eventually, a jointly owned Panasonic-Toyota battery facility will build 200,000 packs per annum and will cost almost $200 million to build. In order to reduce vehicle size and weight, and to improve mileage, Toyota will likely be replacing the current nickel-metal hydride batteries in Prius cars with the new lithium units. Exact timing for the change has not been announced.

Toyota Prius: Video

While there is no specific word on how the eventual battery switchover will affect Prius range and charge time, the video clip above offers a nice overview of how the current version of the plug-in works. The 15-mile all-electric range in today’s Prius plug-in is sourced from a battery pack that can be recharged from a 220-volt outlet in about 90 minutes. The car’s dash display shows progress of the charge.

Toyota Batteries

Japan’s influential Nikkei Business Daily newspaper reported the basic facts about Toyota’s apparent switch to lithium power, but did not cite sources for the information. It is possible that Toyota is intending to sell the batteries to other carmakers, or offer them for sale on the open market. However, rumors have been adrift in the auto industry for several years that the maker of the best-selling Prius hybrid would soon switch to lithium battery packs for reasons of efficiency if nothing else.

Toyota sold more than 1 million hybrid cars last year, and its popular Prius typically makes up about 70 percent of the company’s total hybrid sales. Since 1997, Toyota hybrid sales have exceeded 5 million units.

For more about Toyota, see the Japanese carmaker’s official corporate website:
http://www.toyota.com

Larry Bell

Larry Bell + is My Perfect Automobile’s Genius Author, but we call him ‘The Expert‘. Here is his full Blog: My Perfect Automobile. Larry lives in San Jose, CA and is also the Expert Author. Larry is a lover of the Automobile as well and shares a passion for Concept, Hybrid and Electric Cars…

Prius Plug-In Test Reveals Surprising Data

Larry Bell — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 23:13:32 +0000

Toyota Prius Plug-In

Results of a three-year trial show that plug-in hybrid cars can have a significant impact on fuel economy, perhaps causing as much as a 45 percent drop in fuel usage overall. Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid cars were given to city employees in Strasbourg, France, in order to collect detailed data about usage, fuel consumption, personal driving habits, and other relevant behaviors. Study participants covered about 2,500,000 miles during the three-year period and used 145 different charge points to replenish the cars’ batteries.

Prius Plug-In: Video

For a fun look at hybrid car enthusiasts doing something positive to help their fellow citizens, and enjoying themselves in the process, view the hilarious video clip above. An official production of Toyota Motor Corp., the clip highlights how the Toyota Positive campaign works. Those with helpful, fun ideas can submit them to Toyota. If the company likes the pitch, it will back the plan and offer the use of a Prius car. According to official Toyota literature, the idea should, “…combine the good-natured public spirit with the positive power of our new Prius Plug-in Hybrid. Submit your positive ideas and we could give you one of our pioneering hybrid cars to bring it to life. Let’s spread some positivity.”

Prius Plug-In Test

The drivers charged their vehicles an average of 1.1 times per day. One interesting fact from the study is that frequent charging is directly related to low fuel usage. While 60 percent of recharging sessions took place at work, the other 40 percent were done at drivers’ homes.

For more about Toyota, maker of the world’s best-selling hybrid vehicle, see the Japanese automaker’s official corporate website:
http://www.toyota.com

To learn more about the Toyota Positive competition, and to see how you can join the fun, visit the company’s instructional link about the event:
http://www.youtube.com/toyotapositive/

Larry Bell

Toyota Prius Plug-in Wins Montreal Rally

Larry Bell — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 13:18:23 +0000

Toyota Prius Plug-in

The prestigious Rallye Vert de Montreal last week featured the plug-in Toyota Prius in the winner’s circle. It is the third time in as many years that Toyota’s best-selling hybrid took the first-place trophy in Canada’s only venue for the FIA Alternative Energies Cup races. Toyota was actually a double-winner at the event because its Lexus CT 200h came in second. The rally ranks cars based on their fuel efficiency and regularity (speed accuracy) throughout the 530-kilometer event. The Prius plug-in was first in both categories of scoring, thus took the top prize without any dispute.

Toyota Prius Plug-in: Video

You will come away from the following video clip with a better understanding of the 2013 Prius plug-in hybrid, since the short film shows every conceivable angle, both inside and out, of the sleek new car. The silent, non-narrated clip gives an especially thorough tour of the car’s interior, focusing primarily on the cockpit area and high-tech dashboard controls. The navigation system, engine and motor monitors, as well as the entertainment features are all shot in extreme close-up, as if you were inside the car yourself, looking at every little nook and cranny. Finally, we see the car in action as it quietly drives away from the parking area.

Toyota Prius Plug-in

This win allows Team Toyota of Canada to compete in the Rallye Monte Carlo des Energies Nouvelles which will take place early next year. Of all the green rallies, the Monte Carlo competition is the most widely respected as well as the oldest. Hybrid vehicles have been dominant in many of the green racing circuits over the past five years, with the Toyota Prius taking several trophies in top races and rallies.

For more information about all the cars and trucks that Toyota manufactures, see the automaker’s official corporate website:
http://www.toyota.com

Larry Bell

Billy Joel: Hybrid Man

Larry Bell — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 03:59:10 +0000

Billy Joel: Interior of Prius C

Billy Joel is just one of many celebrities who own a Toyota Prius hybrid car. The list of famous folks who own the popular vehicle is getting so long, the New York Times and other major publications are taking note. Joel, of course, is a mega-star, who has been famous for almost four decades, but the recent batch of stars, starlets, pop icons, and actors keeps growing. Famous people just love the Prius.

Billy Joel: Toyota Prius Video

For a simple yet informative walk-around of a new Prius C hybrid, check out the video link below. The car made its debut at this year’s North American International Auto Show in Detroit and was an instant hit. Already a best-seller in Japan, the C is a smaller version of Toyota’s flagship hybrid-electric entry.

Billy Joel: Hybrid Pre-Owned Cars

Now that hybrids have been around long enough to populate an active used car niche, Toyota remains the only car maker to offer a stand-alone Certified Pre-owned program for hybrids, though other hybrid makers are sure to follow. Honda has two hybrids that have been showing up on the pre-owned lots, namely the Insight and the Civic Hybrid. Although the Chevy Volt has only been around for a couple of years, the sleek hybrid from GM is already making a name for itself as a pre-owned, green vehicle.

Nissan’s all-electric Leaf has not yet appeared in the company’s pre-owned programs, but is expected to debut very soon. Those in search of luxury, pre-owned hybrids will not be disappointed. Lexus has an entire lineup of green, pre-owned cars. Both the GS 450h sedan and the RX 450h crossover are popular on the second-hand market. One of the biggest draws of the pre-owned vehicles is price. Buyers can sometimes get nearly-new hybrid cars for many thousands of dollars less than new versions.

For more about the world’s most popular hybrid car, see the official corporate website for the Toyota Prius:
http://www.toyota.com/prius-hybrid/

Larry Bell

Hybrid Car Sales Shock Experts

Larry Bell — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 14:56:22 +0000

Hybrid car: Ford C-MAX Energi plug-in

According to conventional wisdom, when gasoline prices rise, sales of electric and hybrid cars go up too. When gas falls, so do sales of alternative fuel vehicles. That makes good economic sense, but does not match recent reality. Though gasoline prices dropped recently, electric and hybrid car sales went up, which is a statistic that is currently causing industry analysts to do a double take. June’s 164 percent sales increase for alternative fuel vehicles might have been much higher if the price of gasoline had in fact gone up. No one can say for sure how high sales might have soared, but something on the order of 200 percent is a reasonable guess.

Hybrid Cars for 2014: Video

If you would like a tiny peek at the future of hybrid cars, have a look at the video clip below, which features some top secret (sort of) footage from the Mercedes-Benz S-class 2014 testing. Actually, the 2014 S-class cars will come in five varieties, based on what information has already been released. There will be the 6-, 8-, and 12-cylinder versions, of course, plus a diesel and hybrid drive model as well. The video shows some of the car’s high-altitude testing of the 2014 S-class prototypes.

Hybrid Car Sales

An instructive side note: When the sales numbers are broken out into hybrid and electric separately, it is obvious that buyers gravitated toward hybrids much more than the all-electric cars. It seems that consumers are hedging their bets for now, hanging onto a bit of range anxiety, and opting for the “range-extender” design of hybrid cars.

Ford will soon be bringing out its plug-in version of C-MAX hybrid, while Toyota continues to create variations on the hybrid theme with its own plug-in. From June 2011 to June 2012, Prius sales were up 300 percent.

For more information about the company that builds the best-selling hybrid car, see:
http://www.toyota.com

Larry Bell

Hybrid Wars! Ford Takes on Toyota

Larry Bell — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 12:39:18 +0000

Ford C-Max ‘SmartGauge’

Ford Motor Company is going all out with marketing for its new 2013 C-Max Hybrid, pitting the sleek entry directly against its number one rival, Toyota’s Prius V. Sources at Ford say they hope about half of all new C-Max owners are “captures” from Toyota, in other words, buyers who would otherwise have purchased the Toyota product. Marketing aside, how do the two stack up against each other on an objective basis? That is what most consumers want to know.

In the area of fuel efficiency, C-Max wins out by a few points, with its 47/44 mpg, against the Prius V’s 44/40 statistic. Other basic comparisons show the Ford on top as well, with its 2.0-liter engine cranking out 188 horses and boasting a 500-mile total range. Prius V has a slightly smaller, 1.8-liter engine, 134 horse power, and nickel-metal-hydride batteries (as opposed to Ford’s more common lithium-ion pack).

Most consumers make price a large part of their car buying equation, and in this case, the C-Max wins out by more than $1,300, since the Prius V starts at $27,310, and the C-Max at $25,995. The C-Max has some unique Ford tweaks too, like a hands-free liftgate and the company’s patented Active Park Assist technology.

Ford C-Max hybrid

To be thorough, for drivers who want cargo space, the C-Max definitely does not come out on top of the comparison. Prius V has about 10 more cubic feet of space than Ford’s hybrid, along with the advantage of proven reliability. Hard to quantify, objectively anyway, reliability and a proven track record are golden assets that the Prius possesses. C-Max is a new entry into the hybrid arena and will have to spend at least a couple of years earning its reputation. If all goes well, though, Ford will likely have a decent share of the lucrative hybrid market by the middle of this decade.

For more about the C-Max hybrid from Ford, see the official website for the vehicle:
http://www.ford.com/cars/cmax/2013/

Larry Bell

A Prius for the Prince!

Larry Bell — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 12:46:26 +0000

Toyota Prius V

The first Toyota Prius plug-in to roll off a European assembly line has landed on the driveway of Monaco’s Prince Albert II. Right now, the Prince has a standard version of the Prius, but is looking forward to driving the new plug-in, his spokesperson said. The Monaco government has just begun an incentive arrangement for car buyers who opt for hybrids and electric models.

A few years ago, the Prince gave some clues in an interview with an Internet journalist about his environmental frame of mind. A soft-spoken man with an American accent (he learned English from his mother, Princess Grace), Prince Albert II is committed to doing whatever he can to keep Monaco’s air clean. His role in that effort is to drive a hybrid car, and he certainly seems to love the Toyota Prius, because this recent addition to his fleet is the second one he has driven. A short segment of the interview is linked below.

The Prius more than meets Principality requirements for the purchase incentive, since its lithium-ion battery pack prevents the gasoline engine from having to work too hard. In pure EV mode, the car is able to travel for about 15 miles. The new Prius plug-in can be driven like the older version, if a driver prefers the more conventional, original hybrid system. The combined-cycle hybrid allows for fuel efficiency of 78 mpg.

The Principality of Monaco has over 420 charging stations for electric cars. The plug-in Prius only takes 90 minutes to charge completely, and the Prince has said that he will be using the new car for non-official driving. In his case that often means a trip to the running club, where he jogs laps around a track.

For more about the Toyota Prius, see the official corporate website for the car:

http://www.toyota.com/Prius

For information about Monaco, see the following information page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monaco

Larry Bell

‘Top Green Company’ Award Goes to …

Larry Bell — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 18:39:57 +0000

Toyota Tundra

The second annual Best Global Green Brands report has named this year’s winner, and it turns out to be a replay of last year’s results, with the trophy going to a Japanese automaker that pioneered hybrid vehicle development, Toyota Motor Corporation. The prize recognizes companies that actually live up to their public image in the area of environmental responsibility.

Global brand consulting firm Interbrand hands out the awards each year, and noted that Toyota is at the top of its game due to expansion of the legendary Prius family of hybrid cars. Not only did they revolutionize the auto industry with the car’s introduction, according to Interbrand, but Toyota also kept going, creating more models, and even came up with a plug-in version of the wildly popular Prius.

Now, there is a smaller version of a Toyota hybrid in the European Toyota Yaris hybrid. For those who want larger cars that are still green, the company builds the luxurious Camry. Next year, the Toyota Avalon hybrid will be available in showrooms all over the world. Interbrand was also impressed with the Japanese automaker’s comprehensive efforts to make its entire manufacturing process greener. Toyota has recently instituted ongoing systems to cut carbon emissions in its factories and office buildings.

At this rate, Toyota is on target for one of the world’s first green “three-peats,” if it wins the Interbrand award again next year.

Global best-seller: Toyota Corolla

Just having a green reputation will not garner votes for the top spot. Instead, those who vie for the prize must be as green as they are perceived to be. In other words, no hypocrites allowed! It is a sad fact that numerous manufacturing and retail corporations talk the green talk. Toyota has now won this award twice in a row because they walk the walk when it comes to green efforts and practices.

For more info about the world’s greenest automaker, see their official corporate website:
http://www.toyota.com

Larry Bell

Unexpected New Sales Champ for Plug-ins

Larry Bell — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 12:35:18 +0000

Ample cargo space in the Prius

The month of May delivered mostly rosy car sales statistics to U.S. and foreign automakers, with just a few exceptions. In the alternative fuel category, the new “big three” jostled for position. Nissan’s all-electric Leaf, Toyota’s hybrid Prius plug-in, and Chevrolet’s extended-range hybrid Volt are still the main players in the green game, at least in the U.S. While all three are, for the sake of sales data comparison, referred to as “rechargeable vehicles,” there can be only one sales leader each quarter.

The Nissan Leaf racked up 510 sales in May, not the best data the model has posted. In fact, Leaf sales were down by 55 percent, as the automaker gets ready to pump up its marketing efforts for summer. Toyota booked 1,086 Prius plug-in sales for May, and the Chevy Volt outshone them all, with a whopping 1,680 units out the door. That translates into a 249 percent increase over the same month last year. Not bad for a car that was written off by some pessimistic critics only three months ago!

Chevy came storming back after a short production stoppage and a now-resolved problem with battery performance. The company beefed up the car’s safety profile, dealt quickly and competently with the battery issue, and made certain that the Volt could get tax incentives and carpool privileges where applicable.

The Leaf, to be fair, has suffered primarily from distribution logistics, a challenge which the company intends to fix immediately. Nissan fully expects to sell a thousand cars per month by the time summer arrives.

Nissan's electric Leaf

The Chevy Volt sells for $39,145, but is eligible for a $7,500 tax credit, while the plug-in Prius goes for $32,000 before a smaller, $2,500 credit. The Leaf’s sticker price is $35,200, but it qualifies for a $7,500 tax credit.

For much more information about three of the cars mentioned in this article, see the vehicles’ official corporate websites:

Chevy Volt-
http://www.chevrolet.com/volt-electric-car/

Nissan Leaf-
http://www.nissanusa.com/leaf-electric-car/index#/leaf-electric-car/index

Toyota Prius-
http://www.toyota.com/prius-hybrid-family/

Larry Bell

Hybrid Sales Shocker: 200 Percent Increase

Larry Bell — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 18:31:06 +0000

A Lexus hybrid cut-away on display

At a time when the U.S. economy is not exactly winning awards, the hybrid automotive market just keeps steaming along, breaking sales barriers every quarter and winning new converts along the way. Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. reported its latest sales figures late last week, and the data was nothing short of astounding. Compared with May of 2011, overall car sales were up a whopping 72 percent.

Keep in mind that the 72 percent number is for all cars. When statistics for hybrid vehicles are broken out separately, the results are astronomical. Compared with the same period last year, Toyota’s hybrid vehicles sold 200 percent more in 2012, with a total of 29,069 hybrids sold in the most recent measuring period.

Toyota Division group vice president and general manager, Bob Carter, thanked the customers for this recent round of good news, and pointed to the success of both the Camry and Prius family of vehicles as the sales leaders for the company. Calling recent unveilings part of “the most aggressive product launch in our history,” Carter looks toward continued success from the entire lineup of Toyota’s new models. He also alluded to the overall recovery of the automotive market as one more reason that Toyota’s sales number should continue to improve.

Prius plug-in hybrid

With most of the major car makers coming out with hybrid offerings either this year or next, Toyota can take credit for initiating the trend, but at the same time will have more competitors as the decade unfolds. Already, Volvo is set to introduce a much-anticipated plug-in hybrid, which features high-end styling and a diesel rather than gasoline engine. Regardless of what its competitors do, Toyota is definitely back on track after a couple of difficult years.

For more information about Toyota’s full line of hybrid cars and trucks, and all of its environmental efforts, see the company’s official corporate website:
http://www.toyota.com/about/environment/hybrids/index.html

Larry Bell

Toyota’s Entune System: The Ultra-Tech Hybrid

Larry Bell — Mon, 28 May 2012 12:05:13 +0000

Toyota's Entune system control panel

Many Toyota Prius cars feature the Entune multimedia navigation system, which uses a connected mobile phone to round up all sorts of helpful data for the driver, like traffic, weather, fueling locations, and more. Entertainment selections abound. Entune can connect driver and passengers to XM Satellite radio, Pandora, and as a cool bonus, the system is capable of voice recognition. The 2012 Toyota Prius V was the first car to offer the Entune system.

With nothing more than Bluetooth or a standard USB cable, you can hook up your Smartphone to Entune. Because the system is wirelessly upgradeable, any in-vehicle apps will never be out of date. With a data plan, many other types of mobile devices can be used with Entune, making it nearly universal. The video clip below provides a comprehensive overview of the system’s capabilities as it walks through each of the major categories on the control panel.

Practical functionality is one of the main features of Entune. It’s not all about entertainment! For example, the Charge Management display tab gives detailed information about the battery’s state of charge, remaining electric miles, and scheduled charges. The neatest part of the charge function is that drivers can remotely begin a charging session as long as the car is hooked up to an outlet. Then, when your Prius is fully charged, the Entune system sends you an email telling you the car is ready to drive.

The Remote Climate app is another endlessly useful function. It lets the driver remotely begin cooling or heating the car before getting inside. Nice for those cold mornings or burning hot afternoons. Just use your phone to initiate the air conditioner or heater and no more boiling hot steering wheels or frozen windows.

For much more detailed information about Toyota’s Entune system, see the company’s official page:
http://www.toyota.com/entune/

Larry Bell

Celebs Truly Love One Car Model

Larry Bell — Thu, 24 May 2012 18:16:49 +0000

Inside the celebrity favorite

Celebrity tastes are hard to pin down, with fads changing every few weeks, it seems, in the areas of clothing, dating, food, music, and hairstyles. Dittos when it comes to cars, except that there is indeed a clear winner in the celeb-stakes of automobiles. In fact, the four-wheeled pride that is dearest to stars and starlets’ hearts is a green ride, already popular amongst us regular folk.

Oddly, some of the famous faces who drive the “car of the stars” do so secretly, while others take every chance they get to tout their “green credentials.” And for once, perhaps in all history, a celebrity trend is actually a wise investment rather than a giant money-waster. Sure, the customized Porsches and Ferraris still abound with the glitterati set, but macho types, blushing starlets, mega-stars and power brokers of Hollywood agree, the Toyota Prius is the car of the hour, and maybe of the decade, for those among what used to be called the “jet set.”

In the category of Most Beloved Green Car for Hollywood Celebrities, the winner is … The Toyota Prius. Big, really big, names are Prius owners, like Harrison Ford (shouldn’t he be driving a Ford Fusion?), Dustin Hoffman, Tom Hanks, and Matt Damon. So are David Duchovny, Bradley Cooper, Forest Whitaker, Zachary Quinto and comics Will Ferrel, Anna Farris and Matt Groening.

Ladies love the Prius as much as the men do. Rachel Bilson is spotted all over Hollywood in hers, as are Emily Blunt, the elusive Demi Moore, Natalie Portman, Miley “Hannah Montana” Cyrus, and Cameron Diaz (why not a Camaro for Cameron?). Even pretty woman Julia Roberts, friendly Jennifer Aniston, and Calista Flockhart drive the famous Prius hybrid. Hey, that means Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart are a two Prius family! Do they travel together, or does Harrison go ‘Solo’?

Celebs love the Prius

Currently, the Toyota Prius is the best selling hybrid automobile in the world, so maybe these celebrities are onto something. Chevrolet once sold a car called the Celebrity, but it never made a splash among actual celebrities the way Prius has.

For more about the car that celebrities seem to love so much, see Toyota’s official page for its Prius offerings:
http://www.toyota.com/prius-hybrid/

Larry Bell