Toyota's got a lot of Prius fans salivating at the thought of its third-gen fuel-saver being introduced in January at the Detroit Auto Show, and it's doing its part to keep those juices flowing by releasing the first official shot of the '10 Prius. It's um, nice... but doesn't show off too much skin. In fact, it's nothing more than a new logo, and it's obviously a bit of a let-down to the hard-core fans among the internet. We think that this may be the splash screen displayed on the e-dash upon startup. Our Autoblog siblings see some Knight Rider influence in the font, and we have to agree after checking it out ourselves. We do know that the new Prius will be a bit sportier overall, and the chosen font seems to back that up. We need to find a way to get the theme from Star Trek: The Next Generation to play at the same time. Any comments? Thanks for the tip, Danny!

[Source: PriusChat.com]

The EcoTour was a 7-day tour through nine European countries with 42 of the most fuel-efficient cars. The tour started 12 September in Barcelona, Spain, and finished 19 September in The Hague in the Netherlands. The target was burning the least fuel possible during the seven days. There were two winners for each day: one absolute, and one for each category, as well as a final global winner: The Seat Ibiza Ecomotive, which averaged fuel consumption of 3.80 l/100 km (61.90mpg U.S.), and was driven by F.A. van Heijningen and N.A. van Heijningen-de Kok from the Netherlands. The event offset its carbon emissions via BP's target-neutral program (€0.18 for each tank of normal gasoline, diesel or LPG and as much as €0.36 for each tank of BP Ultimate premium fuels). Follow us after the jump to see the complete results.


[Source: Seat and Eco Tour]

There's a question that's sure to be on the minds of many of our devout readers: does the new Jetta TDI come close to the Prius when it comes to fuel mileage? We've had our first impression, and we'll see for ourselves soon enough when we get our hands on a new TDI for a long-term test, but Popular Mechanics has done some of the footwork for us already. In a test that wound its way both through California's inner trenches - the surface streets in LA *shudder* - along with some a good deal of snaking blacktop in between, the crew at PM kept separate logs for both city and highway mileage, all the time with a view towards fuel mileage. So, who won? Um, depends.

The Jetta bettered the Prius by less than one mile per gallon on the highway, as it rode its abundant torque to a mild victory. In the city, which is the traditional edge for the all hybrids, the Prius earned its fuel mileage crown back by besting the TDI by over ten miles per gallon. Plus, diesel fuel still costs a bit more than regular unleaded. That's not the whole story, though, as PM still preferred to spend time in the Jetta's interior. So, which do you choose? Why not tell us yourself in the comments.

[Source: Popular Mechanics]

As we gathered sleepily in the conference rooms early in the morning, host John Hanson said that Toyota's hope with this one-day seminar was to present the complexity of the sustainability mobility situation and to highlight the challenges that the world is dealing with. The solution is not just the cleaner-than-they-used-to-be four-wheeled vehicles that Toyota is building, but also its partnerships and transportation alternatives, a reduction in how much energy and resource we use, better regulations, and so on and so on and so on. Seriously. By 3 p.m., our heads were swimming but still, Toyota succeeded in Hanson's stated goal. The six or so hours of presentations and Q&A sessions provided a lot of answers and raised a few questions about just what we're going to do in the coming decades. If nothing else, we learned that Toyota is thinking about the problem.

Follow us past the jump for the full story.

Senator Lamar Alexander has put his money where his energy policy mouth is and shelled out the $10,000 it costs to have a Prius converted by A123 Systems to a plug-in type hybrid. The senator says he gets 30 miles out of the lithium ion battery before the engine is called upon to do some work. Having only a 5 or 6 mile daily commute, Alexander has burned about half a tank a gas since sometime last July which is just a bit less than his former vehicle, a leased Nissan Maxima, would have burned. Of course, his motivation for the innovative installation was not to save money but to illustrate what is possible.

Having worked with the TVA for many years, Alexander is well aware that the rather large Tennessee Valley region has an unused nighttime electricity capacity that is equal to the output of six or seven nuclear plants. He hopes that a lot of that energy can go to power transportation vehicles in the future and help offset imported oil. Although he believes this goal will take 15 to 20 years to achieve, he calculates that if half of our current fleet of cars and trucks had similar capabilities as his shiny black Prius, we could cut our oil imports by 4 to 5 million barrels a day - just about half. This, of course, would be great but we hope it happens a lot sooner than 2028.

[Source: US News and World Report]

Back in June we told you about a test that Top Gear did with a Toyota Prius and BMW M3. At the time, the Top Gear crew ran a Prius around their test track as fast as they could for 10 laps with Jeremy Clarkson pacing right behind it in a BMW M3. Not surprisingly, the Prius - which is not designed for this kind of application - scored a comparatively poor 14.3 mpg (U.S.) in the test. As we all know, driving style does affect mileage which we again demonstrated this week during our drive of the Jetta TDI. The driving we did in the southern California canyons was at least as strenuous what Top Gear did to the Prius and we managed a much more impressive 30.7 mpg. While the Top Gear air field track is flat, the Jetta drive route included significant and repeated elevation changes as well as a 20 degree temperature swing from about 73 along the coast up to over 90 further inland. Altogether, a very impressive performance by the German diesel even without any start stop or hybrid capability.


Photos Copyright ©2008 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc.
[Source: AutoblogGreen]

We've been hearing rumblings of more models coming from Toyota that would carry the Prius badge for the last few months. While the Prius in five door hatchback style that we all know and love will definitely carry on, even after it is completely redone next year, there are likely to be other hybrid vehicles from the automaker that could slot both above and below the current Prius in size and price. Remember that Toyota showed off its 1/x (pronounced 1/xth) concept that used innovative packaging and new materials to punch a Prius-sized hole in the wind with less than a thousand pounds of vehicle. A larger hybrid is also a possibility, though we must wonder what that could mean to future hybrid variants of the popular Camry line.

Another intriguing option that we first heard of today are Prius-branded dealerships. Toyota has already tested the waters by introducing the Scion brand in the States as separate from its parent. A hybrid-only dealership could lend that extra bit of green street-cred to the automaker that already leads the race in hybrid development.

[Source: Reuters]

Vehicle aerodynamics are a strange thing. While you can create perfect aerodynamic models using math, there is no ideal aerodynamic shape for a vehicle because there are so many variables - including style, which is constantly updated. Still, certain shapes are slipperier than others and the Toyota Prius' iconic egg-shaped look is quite good at moving through the air without disrupting things too much. So, is it that big a surprise that the new Honda Insight looks a lot like the Prius? According to Honda, the look is the result of making a vehicle with low drag, not one that takes on the Prius' style. Honda spokesman Chuck Schifsky told the Detroit Free Press that, "It was done that way because it was the most aerodynamic design, and we were going for fuel economy." I'm inclined to believe Honda on this, but you can't dismiss the similarities. Take a look in the galleries below.




[Source: Detroit Free Press]

Does it matter what kind of car a politician's daughter drives? Apparently, it does, at least to some people. In Michigan, home of the American auto industry, John McCain had to answer questions related to his daughter Meghan's (a blogger, must be a cool girl) Toyota Prius. One line of questioning was regarding whether or not John McCain paid for the car for his daughter, as McCain claims to have only ever purchased American-made cars, which the Prius is not. At another time, McCain was quoted as saying that he paid for the car.

Meghan McCain said in a posting on her blog, "Climate change is a very important issue to me; in fact, there are few issues other than the war in Iraq I find as relevant. I try to do my part by driving a Prius, recycling, using eco-friendly light bulbs, etc..." John McCain said in an interview in Detroit, "We also believe that climate change is real and we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions." And all this time, we thought that only Obama supporters drove the Prius. Guess not.

[Source: The Detroit News]

A few updates from the U.S. federal government regarding cleaner vehicles. First, we have the official DOE fuel economy numbers for the 2009 Prius: 48 mpg in the city, 45 on the highway for a combined rating of 46 mpg. If that looks familiar, it's because it's the same as the 2008 Prius (and the 2007 and 2006 ...) But here's something that's new (maybe): has the FuelEconomy site always had the "switch units" option? I hadn't noticed it before but it caught my eye today because of the whole gallons per mile debate we had earlier this summer. Anyway, this option is easy to see on the DOE site - which remembers your setting - and we can clearly see that the 2009 Prius uses 2.2 gallons to go 100 miles.

Now, about the Advanced Lean Burn Technology Motor Vehicle income tax credit, which the Jetta TDI qualified for earlier this year. As Mercedes-Benz hoped, the company's three new BLUETEC SUVs do qualify for the credit, which is good on diesel vehicles "purchased or placed into service after December 31, 2005." The DOE includes this helpful note: "No eligible vehicles were manufactured for sale until 2008." The exact credit values are pasted after the jump. Thanks to Shaun for the tip.

[Source: DOE]

A few years back it was not unheard of to see incidents of vandalism and outright destruction committed against large SUVs, especially Hummer H2s. Those incidents have largely died down recently, perhaps because people feel pity for those SUV owners who can no longer afford to drive them and can't afford to get rid of them. Now, however, someone is striking back against what they likely perceive as the overly smug, self-righteous greenies who drive Toyota Priuses. One Prius was completely destroyed in July by what has now been deemed to be an arsonist. Back in April seven separate incidents of vandalism occurred within a two-week span in the town of Petaluma north of San Francisco. Come on, people, this is ridiculous. Just because some SUV and some hybrid drivers act like jerks, that's no reason to get violent. Let's just live and let live.

[Source: Inside Line]

Although Japanese battery makers currently have plans to greatly expand their production capacity at home, it seems this still isn't enough and America seems to be the destination of choice for some new manufacturing plants. One of the companies planning on creating some green-collar jobs in the U.S. is GS Yuasa Corp. Their president, Makoto Yoda said, "Named must your fear be before banish it you can. We have to choose our next factory's location based on growth in the given market." While not a household brand name for most Americans, GS Yuasa's automotive partner, Mitsubishi, is sure to ring a bell. They are using lithium ion batteries from GS Yuasa in their all-electric i MiEV which is soon to be tested in California. Although they have not yet committed to selling this car stateside, this announcement is sure to raise hopes.

Another company with American battery factory plans is Toyota. Having already announced plans to build Priuses in Mississippi in 2010, the world's biggest automaker believes manufacturing batteries here will help them achieve their cost reduction goals. Toyota has been able to reduce it's per vehicle cost by 50 percent since its first-gen Prius and hopes to halve those costs again in their next-gen. Of the decision company vice chairman Kazuo Okamoto said, "It is very difficult to make the main parts of batteries outside Japan, but we have to have battery production in North America," No time table for the plants were given but when they arrive we think they will help provide both employment and environmental wins for America.

[Source: Bloomberg / Reuters]

click to enlarge

Take four of your average Prius hybrids and stick a little color on them - what do you get? A fleet from Big Ink graphics company that is supposed to express the eco-truth that "Little Things Make a Big Difference." Does it work? Well, the Big Ink team is certainly excited to save fuel using these can't miss 'em vehicles in and around the Twin Cities area of Minnesota and Big Ink tries to get the cars into the public eye whenever possible. The graphics (get a close-up view in the gallery below) were designed by Image Haus of Minneapolis.

Behind the scenes, the company says it recycles tons of waste and paper and offers customers a Zero-Waste Recycling Program that reuses or recycles retail graphics that often have a pretty short shelf life. Not a bad idea in an industry that thrives on churning out new stuff all the time.


[Source: Big Ink]

Apparently, Marty Padgett and Bengt Halvorson over at The Car Connection had a little extra time over the weekend. As part of the political frenzy being created thanks to the national party conventions happening over the next two weeks, the automotive website has taken it upon itself to predict which types of vehicles will become more popular depending on who is president of the U.S. starting in January. Their take? A President Barack Obama would promote diesel pickups, the Honda Accord diesel, the Ford Fiesta and the Chrysler 300C HEMI. On the other side, a President John McCain would mean more Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrids, Toyota Priuses, Honda Civic GXs, Chevrolet Volts and Nissan EVs on the roads. You can read their reason for these choices after the jump, but it basically comes down to which broad automotive policies each candidate has promoted thus far in the race. Still, I thought the Prius was the car of choice for Obamaniacs?

[Source: TheCarConnection.com]

Click above for more images of the Saturn Flextreme concept

Apple co-founder Steve "the Woz" Wozniak loves his Segway. In fact, that should be plural, as he has multiple self-balancing two-wheelers. He also likes his hybrid Toyota Prius, enough to test its 104 mph top speed on multiple occasions. "I'll tell you, a hatchback is a really efficient car," says Wozniak. "You want things smaller but you want them to do a lot." The fact that the Prius has a good-sized boot is certainly a good thing for Steve. When traveling, Woz couldn't possibly leave his beloved Personal Transporter home, so he carries two of them in the back of his Prius hatchback.

We have an idea of what Wozniak would like to see for his next car... how 'bout the Saturn Flextreme which was shown off last Janurary as a concept in Detroit. It's the perfect vehicle for the man - as General Motors was kind enough to include two Segway scooters neatly tucked into the back already. Maybe Steve and Bob Lutz should get together, ride their Segways and talk about getting Mr. Wozniak a proper Segway-carrier.


[Source: Wired]