Toyota News
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In addition to automakers and policymakers, battery-electric cars can count on support from a variety of advocacy groups. But grassroots support for hydrogen fuel-cell cars hasn't germinated to quite the same extent. So, in the absence of a large cadre of individual consumers to act as advocates, a mix of automakers, infrastructure companies, and oil companies have now committed to fund the promotion of fuel cells. DON'T MISS: GM, Honda set up joint fuel-cell manufacturing plant, 2020 production goal Earlier this month, 13 companies—most currently involved in fuel cells to some...
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Toyota Mirai touted in ad on electric-car charging station
How do you advertise new and innovative zero-emission vehicles, whether they're electric or fuel-cell cars? It's a question that's bedeviled carmakers and their marketers, who continue to experiment with messaging, different audiences, and programs to get people into the cars. The challenge is...
John Voelcker -
Toyota Prius Prime buyers misled by dealers; more education needed
The Toyota Prius Prime is a far better car than its plug-in hybrid predecessor, and it seems likely to become one of the higher-volume plug-in electric cars on the U.S. market. If, that is, Toyota's own dealers prove willing to sell it—or even find out that it exists. After three separate...
John Voelcker -
2018 Toyota Camry Hybrid: two different battery packs, 'best-in-class' fuel economy claimed
Masato Katsumata is Toyota's chief engineer for the global Camry sedan program—so when he speaks, it's worth listening. Following yesterday's Detroit Auto Show launch of an entirely new 2018 Toyota Camry mid-size sedan, he was one of several Toyota executives who answered media questions in a...
John Voelcker -
Toyota changes course, offers to share hybrid technology with rivals
Over the past six months, Toyota has made some remarkable decisions about its present and future car technologies. After years of staunch opposition to battery-electric vehicles, it committed to launching one by 2020. Now, the company has decided to offer its proprietary hybrid technology in volume...
John Voelcker -
2017 Toyota Prius Prime: gas mileage, electric range review
The 2017 Toyota Prius Prime turned out to be a better plug-in hybrid than we had expected when we drove it around sunny Ojai, California, on the press launch in October. It's a viable competitor to the second-generation Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid, though the Volt has an EPA-rated 53 miles of...
John Voelcker -
Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda will lead the company's new electric-car division.
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Mazda to offer electric car in 2019, maybe with range extender?
Mazda may launch an electric car in 2019.
Stephen Edelstein -
Toyota battery R&D will allow all-electric car in 'a few years,' likely 2020
The signals are now unmistakable: Toyota will offer a battery-electric car for sale in 2020. After a decade of condemning electric cars as suitable only for the smallest vehicles in around-town use, the world's largest car company is changing its tune. Yet another news story out of Japan has...
John Voelcker -
2017 Toyota Prius Prime vs 2017 Chevrolet Volt: plug-in hybrid video test
They're two high-volume plug-in hybrids, but they take different approaches to energy efficiency. The Toyota Prius Prime, new for 2017, is the plug-in version of the world's best-known, and best-selling, hybrid car. The 2017 Chevy Volt was new last year, a greatly improved version of the pioneering...
John Voelcker -
Another tiny SUV? No AWD for 2018 Toyota C-HR subcompact crossover
The 2018 Toyota C-HR subcompact crossover debuted at the 2016 Los Angeles Auto Show.
Stephen Edelstein -
Toyota to offer electric car in 2020 as fuel-cell sales struggle
Toyota will reportedly unveil a mass-market battery-electric car in 2020.
Stephen Edelstein -
The 2017 Toyota Prius Prime is a new plug-in version of the fourth-generation Prius hybrid launched last year. It succeeds the previous Prius Plug-In Hybrid, but it's a much better—and considerably more electric—vehicle than that discontinued model. We've driven the new Prius Prime in southern California, but is it the right car for you? Here's our assessment of the plug-in hybrid hatchback's strengths and weaknesses. We think the Prime is definitely better-looking than the regular hybrid Prius, whose design is—frankly—more than a little bizarre. Toyota has done a lot...
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Now Toyota can make electric cars: it's tamed lithium-ion batteries, it says
Toyota is one of the world's three largest carmakers, along with General Motors and Volkswagen Group. Having placed its bets for the future of zero-emission transport on hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, it's by far the most resistant of the three to the notion of battery-electric cars. But a recent...
John Voelcker -
Green Car Reports 2017 Best Car To Buy nominee: Toyota Prius Prime
The 2017 Toyota Prius Prime is a far, far better plug-in hybrid than its predecessor. It defaults to electric-only operation, it has 25 miles of EPA-rated electric range, and in electric operation, it is by far the most energy-efficient vehicle you can buy this year in the U.S. And when it reverts...
John Voelcker -
Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel-cell car wins Monte Carlo e-Rally
A Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel-cell car won the 2016 e-Rally Monte Carlo.
Stephen Edelstein -
Toyota to launch fuel-cell buses next year for Olympics
Toyota will deliver its first hydrogen fuel-cell buses next year.
Stephen Edelstein -
2017 Toyota Corolla: first drive of updated compact sedan
The Toyota Corolla has been almost the default compact sedan among North American buyers for what seems like decades now. In good years, more than 350,000 are sold to retail and fleet buyers in the U.S., and they're part of the automotive landscape in even the reddest states of the union. The...
John Voelcker -
Exxon researched hybrid cars in the 1970s, then ignored them.
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Hydrogen marketing campaign suggests, 'Let's clear the air'
Infrastructure company Air Liquide is launching a new marketing campaign to promote fuel cells.
Stephen Edelstein -
2017 Toyota Highlander Hybrid: brief drive of updated three-row SUV
The 2017 Toyota Highlander Hybrid remains the only three-row hybrid crossover utility vehicle sold in the U.S. today. And for the 2017 model year, it's gotten some mild updates. a power increase, and a critical feature for family vehicles: a total of five USB ports. We had a chance to spend half an...
John Voelcker -
2016-17 Toyota Prius hybrids recalled for emergency-brake issue
Certain Toyota Prius models are being recalled because of potentially-faulty emergency brakes.
Stephen Edelstein -
Lexus hybrids 'always charged,' says slogan (unlike electric cars)
Lexus once again takes aim at electric cars with a new slogan.
Stephen Edelstein -
At 133 MPGe, Toyota Prius Prime wallops BMW i3 on energy efficiency
Move over, BMW: there's a new efficiency champion in town this year—and you'll have to give back that laurel wreath you've worn since 2014. Last week, final EPA fuel-efficiency results were released for the 2017 Toyota Prius Prime plug-in hybrid. When running in all-electric mode, that car is...
John Voelcker