hybrid synergy drive
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It's long been the dream of Toyota's U.S. arm that the company would add additional body styles to the Prius line. And Toyota finally gave the nod to that idea earlier this year. Now, details are starting to emerge on the new models that will join the all-new, third-generation 2010 Toyota Prius, currently sold only as a five-door hatchback. One of the new body styles will apparently be a two-door coupe, specifically meant to target the upcoming 2011 Honda CR-Z hybrid sports coupe. The British magazine Autocar reports that the new Prius coupe is to use the same 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine...
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Toyota Prius To Add Coupe In 2011 To Target 2011 Honda CR-Z
Building on the success of the 2010 Toyota Prius hybrid, which is close to sold out due to worldwide demand, Toyota is planning to add additional body styles to the Prius line. Now, the first details of those cars have emerged, and one new model will apparently be a two-door coupe that targets the...
John Voelcker -
2010 Prius Beats 2010 Fusion Hybrid in Detroit News Showdown
Every so often, we like to take a look at what other reviewers have said about the 2010 Toyota Prius hybrid. So we were excited to hear that the Detroit News, from the bowels of Big Three territory, was doing a hybrid showdown comparison test. The paper rated eight mass-priced hybrids, leaving out...
John Voelcker -
Hybrids, Yes, But No Dedicated Hybrid Models for Nissan
Nissan has made a bigger bet on electric cars than any other automaker, with plans to launch its 2012 Leaf electric car globally. But if electric cars are the future of green vehicles, hybrids are today's state of the art. And there, Nissan has lagged. It is developing its own hybrid system, but...
John Voelcker -
Prius Patent Problems? Trade Panel to Investigate Infringement Claim
A U.S. trade panel has agreed to investigate claims that Toyota infringed privately held patents in designing its hybrid electric vehicles. Toyota is widely acknowledged to be the industry leader in hybrids, having sold more than 2 million globally since 1997. If the allegations are upheld by the...
John Voelcker -
2010 Prius Supplies Still Scarce, Toyota Considers US Factory...Again
As global demand remains high for the 50-MPG 2010 Toyota Prius, stocks of the car at U.S. dealers are down to a one-week supply, which is all but sold out. A normal supply is considered to equal 60 days' worth of sales. Sales of the 2010 Prius spiked in late July and August, due to a combination of...
John Voelcker -
While Nissan goes full-bore into electric cars, including projected sales of 20,000 of its 2012 Nissan Leaf, the company's Infiniti luxury marque has neither electric cars nor hybrids in its 2010 lineup. But that will change next year, when it launches the redesigned 2011 Infiniti M luxury sedan lineup and previews the 2012 Infiniti M35 Hybrid that will follow the year after. CEO changes his mind Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn has a long record of dismissing hybrid technology, but the company changed its mind over the last several years and decided to develop its own hybrid-electric drive system...
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Preview: 2012 Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid
Our editor Marty Padgett is spending the day with Volkswagen, driving new models, learning about advanced technologies, and quizzing executives. Here's his preview of VW's upcoming Touareg Hybrid sport utility vehicle. Volkswagen will launch a hybrid electric model of its Touareg sport utility...
John Voelcker -
Will 2010 Toyota Prius Hatchback Get a 2011 Sedan Sidekick?
Two weeks ago, Toyota confirmed that it would offer more than one body style for its Prius hybrid-electric vehicle. Now, in Japan, the company has introduced a Toyota version of the car we know here as the 2010 Lexus HS250h. That car, the first "dedicated hybrid" from Lexus, was launched in Japan...
John Voelcker -
Preview: 2010 Nissan Altima
What is it?: Sporty Nissan midsize coupe and sedan, with hybrid available in sedan only The basics: Always slightly sportier and more stylish than the competition, the low-volume hybrid lets you have it all. Price: $19,900-$29,600 On sale: October 5th Nissan has made some changes to its...
John Voelcker -
Coming Up: Toyota Prius To Be Sold In Multiple Body Styles
Since it was launched in 1997 in Japan, and 2000 in the US, the Toyota Prius has only been sold as a single body style. From 1997 to 2003, it was a subcompact four-door sedan. Since then, it has been a midsize five-door hatchback, thoroughly redesigned for 2010. Now, Toyota executives told its...
John Voelcker -
Drag Race Video: 2010 Toyota Prius vs 2009 Toyota Prius
Which is faster, the 2010 Toyota Prius or its predecessor, the 2004-2009 Prius? On paper, the 2010 should win. Its engine is larger (1.8 liters vs 1.5 liters) and more powerful (134 total horsepower vs 104 hp). It's even got a lower coefficient of drag, the very respectable 0.25. This morning we...
John Voelcker -
There's something about the Toyota Prius that makes people want to modify it. Maybe it's the Hybrid Synergy Drive system, maybe it's the electric running, maybe it's even the car's shape. We're not quite sure. Now, joining the growing parade of Prius plug-in conversions (whether professional or even do-it-yourself) is one with a new twist: the "Algaeus" from Veggie Van Organization in Santa Monica, California. It runs on...algae! Plug-in PLUS algae It wasn't enough to convert the 2008 Toyota Prius to a plug-in hybrid, so it could run longer distances in electric mode and recharge by plugging...
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Most Popular August Posts: 2010 Prius Reference Guide Romps, Again
We're a bit late on what's usually an end-of-month recap of the five most popular posts on AllAboutPrius.com. But, hey, we had a long Labor Day too ... and now we're back in business. So here they are for August. Unusually for us, compared to July's most popular posts, three of our Top Five are...
John Voelcker -
Final Version of Production Prius Plug-In For Frankfurt Auto Show
While literally hundreds of Toyota Prius owners have laid down thousands of dollars (in some cases, tens of thousands) by now for plug-in conversions, Toyota has proceeded slowly. Now it is showing what it says is the final version of its prototype Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid at the Frankfurt Motor...
John Voelcker -
Do Toyota Prius Hybrids Cause Cancer? [sigh] No, They Don't.
Auto "influencers" are the people you ask whenever you have a car question. By virtue of editing AllAboutPrius.com and other High Gear Media sites, we're known as sort of a de facto influencer. And so we get some of the most random questions you can imagine. The latest was from the mother of a High...
John Voelcker -
Lexus Goes Hybrid-Only...in Britain
Well, here's a surprise. It's no news that Lexus has found it slow going breaking into the luxury market in Europe, which is dominated by Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Jaguar. By contrast, Lexus has become the highest-selling US luxury brand since its 1989 launch, largely on the strength of its midsize...
John Voelcker -
More Kids Than Seats? How About a Six-Door Toyota Prius Limo?
Auto websites compete with each other to get the newest, the latest, and the coolest. Sometimes one or more of the 39 sites in the High Gear Media network gets a scoop (like our recent first drive of the 2010 MazdaSpeed3); other times, we don't. So we tip our hat to our buddies at Jalopnik, who got...
John Voelcker -
Even after 10 years, hybrid-electric vehicles are still foreign to large parts of the car-buying public. People aren't sure if they're worth the money, they worry that the battery may need replacing, and some still don't understand that you don't need to plug in a hybrid. Well, brace yourselves. Things are going to get vastly more complicated. And one cause of confusion is the difference between a "plug-in hybrid" and cars like the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, which plugs in and has both a battery pack and a gasoline engine. Hybrid: mostly gasoline powered As we commonly use the term "hybrid," it...
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2009 Toyota Prius: Preparing to Say 'Goodbye'
Let us pay tribute to the car that defined not only defined 'hybrid' but paved Toyota's path toward world domination
John Voelcker -
30 Days of the 2010 Toyota Prius: Day 12, Battery Pack
Disappointingly, the battery pack in the 2010 Toyota Prius is almost identical to the one in its predecesors--but we don't expect that to be the case forever.
John Voelcker -
30 Days of the 2010 Toyota Prius: Day 11, Engine and Electric Motors
Smaller, lighter, more powerful electric motor/generators and a larger gas engine give the 2010 Toyota Prius better performance AND better mileage
John Voelcker -
We Hail Hybrids' Hundredth Birthday, But Were They Really Born in Belgium ?!?!?
Today we celebrate a unique anniversary. One hundred years ago today, US Patent No. 288,181 was granted to Henri Pieper for a "Mixed Drive for Autovehicles"--what we now call a hybrid-electric vehicle. Here's the odd part: Monsieur Pieper describes himself as "a loyal subject of the King of...
John Voelcker -
Another Giugiaro Hybrid Concept Ready For Geneva
The name Fabrizio Giugiaro is synonymous with fast, stylish cars. The styling director at Italdesign knows how to make car fans drool. In 2006 there was the Giugiaro Mustang Concept with 500 horsepower, a glass roof and doors hinged at the bottom of the A-pillar that tipped forward when opened. At...
Robert Scardino