The New Toyota Prius

In uncertain times, the multitudes need a hero. In a year when the spot price of light, sweet crude is an hourly news event, the Toyota Prius seems a likely candidate. A new Prius hybrid arrives in 2009 to fight the forces of OPEC and the evil oil empire. If the price of gasoline hits $5 at the pump, buyers are sure to give it a very bigHowdy Doody welcome.

Toyota, a ship so buttoned down it makes the recently departed William F. Buckley Jr. look like Huey Newton, has no plans for radical upheaval. The current Prius is a sellout in all its five-door jelly-bean frumpiness, so the car scheduled to be revealed at the 2009 Detroit auto show will be tweaked mainly to answer minor customer beefs with the current jelly bean. It will be slightly larger, a bit more spacious inside, and trimmed with more luxury options. The engine will grow and become a tad snappier in its sprint while returning even better fuel economy. A plug-in model should arrive in 2010.

Toyota Prius, Peugeot 206, Daewoo Matiz Three-Wheeler Chinese Clones!

Chinese carmakers are just unbelievable! Following a whole bunch of four-wheel knockoffs like the Toyota RAV, Fiat Panda, Scion, BMW X5, Smart Fortwo and MINI Cooper clones, now some Chinese carmaker has launched a series of three-wheelers that shamelessly imitate the looks of a Toyota Prius, a Daewoo Matiz (Chevrolet in Europe) and a Peugeot 206!!! Seriously now; wouldn’t it be great if these guys could just concentrate in using use their vivid imagination to create uniquely designed products? –Continued after the jump


Via: Autoblog.it & Chinacartimes

Toyota Prius Stretch Limo!

Is this one… happy Toyota Prius or what! Created by a Canadian in Canada –don’t laugh, we’ve seen Canadians in other places too, the custom made Prius hybrid Limo is equipped with six doors and it can accommodate 10 passengers in its interior. Follow the jump to see the work that was done in order to transformer the Prius into a stretch limo. -Continued

Via: Le Blog Auto

Toyota Prius Loosing Out In the "Green" Game To Conventional Cars - Or They Say

A new study conducted by researchers at Cardiff University and Clifford Thames finds that the Prius isn’t the greenest of them all. But how did they come to this conclusion? Well, Cardiff University and Clifford Thames researchers devised an environmental rating system for vehicles (ERV) which takes into account cars’ overall environmental footprint (including raw materials, production and end-of-life costs - based on their length, width and weight).

According to the study, in terms of high-volume "city" cars, the Citroen C1 and Toyota Aygo are among the best, with ERV scores exceeding that of the Toyota Prius hybrid. Someone might point out that the Prius is a C-segment vehicle so the comparison is unjust. True, but Richard Barber, Clifford Thames Strategy and Business Development director believes that conventional petrol and diesel cars will quickly outpace Toyota’s Prius on environmental friendliness. -Continued after the jump

"While the Prius is presently the best among vehicles its size, we are seeing advances in traditional powertrain technology that will help other vehicles close the gap or even leapfrog existing hybrid solutions", said Barber.

Even though I’m not much of a Prius fan, I’ll have to disagree with Mr. Barber for the simple reason that the Prius uses multiple propulsion systems to provide power. In other words, the Prius combines a gasoline engine and an electric motor. Therefore, all Toyota needs to do is add a more frugal and environmentally friendly gasoline engine, and it will furthermore increase the distance from its competitors

Links: Cardiff University & Clifford Thames