Toyota News
-
The Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Transportation have unveiled their updated fuel economy labels. There's some new information aimed squarely to inform consumers looking to buy a hybrid vehicle, plug-in hybrid, or electric car. First and foremost are the MPG or MPGe ratings, stating just how far the car's batteries or tanks will get it, how much electricity or fuel will be used to drive 100 miles, and how long it will take a plug-in vehicle to fully charge. Overall, the labels look much clearer, with 1-to-10 rating bars showing how fuel-efficient or smog-contributing a...
-
Making Music With A Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid & Unattended BaggageAbout a year and a half ago, Scion launched a new webmagazine called ScionAV. The goal? To engage potential Scion shoppers (i.e. Millennials) on lifestyle topics like music, film, and fashion. It's the way marketing works in the Social Media Age: you don't just talk to customers in showrooms, you...
Richard Read -
Toyota Prius Gas MileageThe 2011 Toyota Prius hybrid gets the best gas mileage rating of any car for sale in the U.S. market today. It's rated at 51 mpg city, 48 mpg highway, for a combined rating of 50 mpg--and that's a number no other car can match. At least, no other car that doesn't plug into the wall for some (2011...
John Voelcker -
Toyota Corolla Gas MileageThe 2011 Toyota Corolla is one of the best-selling compact sedans in the U.S. market. But its gas mileage isn't necessarily anything to write home about. The most fuel-efficient model is the one fitted with the 132-horsepower, 1.8-liter engine and a five-speed manual gearbox, a transmission many...
John Voelcker -
Next Mazda Sports Car Rumored To Be Hybrid; Fans Wail, Moan, Gnash TeethOh, the horror, the horror. Once again, the world is coming to an end. No, not tsunamis, or earthquakes, or tornadoes, or plagues. Not even locusts. Nope, it's the evil specter of hybrid technology that will conclusively decimate all of mankind, depriving it forever of driving fun, pleasure, and...
John Voelcker -
Elon Musk Says Tesla Won't Be Sold, But Elon Musk Is WrongIn a sign of its continuing need for capital--and the good performance thus far of its stock--Tesla Motors said today it would sell 5.3 million more shares of common stock. At the same time, according to the announcement, Tesla CEO Elon Musk plans to buy an additional 1.5 million shares of the...
John Voelcker -
Here is what we know about Estella Warren from her Wikipedia page: • She is a fashion model, with a portfolio that includes work for Victoria's Secret, Chanel, Vogue, and Vanity Fair. • She is a swimsuit model, which is like being a fashion model, except the fashion is less important. • She is an actress, with appearances in Ghost Whisperer and Web Cam 3D. • She was featured in the Marky Mark-themed Planet of the Apes remake, which was like Planet of the Apes, except not really. • She is Canadian. • She is 39. • She holds national titles in synchronized...
-
Less Than Half Of U.S. Shoppers Want EVs To Take Over: DiscussIf you plan to shop for a new car this year, there will be a range of plug-in hybrids and EVs competing for your attention. But according to a new survey, only about 30% of you feel comfortable considering them -- and some of you are downright offended by their presence. The news comes from...
Richard Read -
Behind The Wheel: 2012 Toyota Prius V Station Wagon (Video)Sometimes we get nicely produced video, and sometimes we get our codriver to shoot it on the fly. For the 2012 Toyota Prius V station wagon we drove last week, it was very much a case of the latter--complete with a mutli-tone "bong" interruption from the Toyota Entune system. Our one-minute video...
John Voelcker -
Protoscar Lampo3: Best Electric Sports Car You Can't Buy Yet?Protoscar isn’t new to designing and building electric car prototypes. The Swiss firm, who specializes in design and engineering, has previously revealed the Lampo and the Lampo2, both prototypes for electric sports cars. For 2011, the firm has taken a new direction with the Lampo3...
Kurt Ernst -
2012 Toyota Prius V Station Wagon: First Drive ReviewToyota executives will go to extraordinary, absurd lengths to avoid defining the body style of the new 2012 Toyota Prius V. Bob Carter, brand sales chief for Toyota Motors in the U.S., first responded with confusion over the question. Presented with a list of alternatives--sedan, hatchback...
John Voelcker -
You’ve Got a Friend in Me: Toyota’s Electric Car Social Media NetworkAny press relations firm will tell you that in the modern world companies need an active Internet and social media presence in order to best sell a product, but what if you could go one step further and create your own social media network? That’s exactly what Toyota is planning, with the...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Gas prices are going up, smaller cars are better than ever, and once again, U.S. car buyers are turning their sights toward higher gas mileage. For that, there's nothing that beats the 2011 Toyota Prius, with its 50-mpg combined EPA rating. But will that Prius hold up? Will the battery pack and electric components work properly after the shine has worn off? It's a valid question, and one that Consumer Reports considered recently when they reported on a 2001 Prius that had covered more than 200,000 miles. Now the magazine covers another high-mileage Prius, this one the far more numerous...
-
Dollar-A-Gallon Gasoline? Yep, Briefly, One Day In LA (Video)Even if some of us suspect that cheap gasoline may never come back for good ... well, we can dream, right? In the face of national gas prices averaging $4 a gallon, and fillups that can cost three figures, several hundred lucky drivers in Los Angeles hit the jackpot yesterday morning: They paid...
John Voelcker -
2012 Toyota Prius V Station Wagon/Minivan: Arrives This FallThere's nothing like a story translated from overseas media, concerning a related but not-quite-the-same model of a new hybrid car, to get people all in an uproar. So here's the real deal on the 2012 Toyota Prius V station wagon/minivan: It will still arrive in U.S. dealerships this fall. That's...
John Voelcker -
The Ultimate Guide: Toyota Prius Battery Life, Cost, and WarrantyLike many articles, this one started with a reader question. Casey Krakowiecki wrote: I'm interested in buying a new Toyota Prius hybrid. I hope you can answer a couple of questions that will help me. (1) Are the rechargable batteries guaranteed for 8 years? If they fail at 7 years and 11 months...
John Voelcker -
Guide: How To Get Good Gas Mileage AND Third Row Seats?"We have not yet fully accepted the fact that we need a new car. Some call it denial. But we do need one." That's how our friend Gordon Platt began a note asking our advice on what cars he should consider as he sets out to replace the family's aging 2003 Toyota Sienna minivan. "What are your...
John Voelcker -
Feds To Mandate Up To 62 MPG By 2025; What Does It Mean For You?Two days ago, the NHTSA said that it would require annual gas-mileage improvements of somewhere between 2 and 7 percent each year between 2017 and 2025. Corporate average fuel economy requirements have already been set through 2016, an action facilitated by the Obama Administration soon after...
John Voelcker -
For most Hollywood A-List celebrities the choice of how to arrive at premieres and film festivals has been almost as big a decision as what to wear. Now Hollywood A-list celebrities have one less thing to worry about courtesy of French automaker Renault, which is providing ten of its all-electric 2011 Fluence Z.E. Sedans to transport actors and film directors to the red carpet at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. Of course, this isn’t the first time electric cars and Hollywood has been the best of friends. Back in the heyday of the original Toyota RAV4 EV and GM EV1, A-listers like...
-
Will Japanese Power Problems Mean Fewer 2011 Toyota Prius Cars?World supplies of the highly popular Toyota Prius hybrid could be further threatened by new electric power problems in Japan. The Japanese government requested on Friday, May 6, that the Hamaoka nuclear power plant system shut down all of its reactors, which supply to the central Japanese power...
George Parrott -
Toyota Denies Prius Range To Go All Plug-In Hybrid By 2014In about a year’s time Toyota will launch the long-awaited plug-in hybrid version of its top-selling Prius, selling it alongside the regular version of the Prius that’s already available today. According to a new report from Japan’s Nikkei business daily, however, Toyota may make...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Toyota Joins Wireless Electric Car Charging RevolutionThis year we’ve seen a dramatic increase in the number of companies working towards detaching the electric car from its charging cable. Now Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, has joined the inductive charging revolution with a substantial undisclosed investment in WiTricity...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2011 New York Auto Show: Scion Debuts FR-S Concept Sports CarThis past week at the 2011 New York Auto Show Scion debuted their next sports coupe intended for the U.S. market. The Scion FR-S is being developed in conjunction with Subaru and is slated to rollout for sale in mid 2012. Think of this as a body by Toyota, Engine by Subaru deal with the celebrated...
Jonathan McGrew -
Why Californians Need A Parking Permit To Charge Electric CarsNo one knows the ins and outs of electric-car usage like the early adopters, especially those who've already taken delivery of a 2011 Nissan Leaf or a 2011 Chevrolet Volt. (Or both.) So when a thread on required parking permits to recharge electric cars erupted in our recent article on the opening...
John Voelcker