Enough of the gas-guzzling vehicles around! This time Indian roads are all set to grab the Hybrid vehicles since both Honda Siel Cars India and Mahindra and Mahindra have specified that they will make their Hybrids viable by next year. Even other automakers, for instance Toyota and Ford, have expressed their interest for the hybrid vehicles in the country.
From its looks any one will interpret Toyotas newest of hybrids as another one of those boxy looking things which comes with tyres attached, one of those of which the market looks fed up with from the past some time.
But, once you take a peak deeper into the box, you will see that Toyota has came up with pretty new innovations, which have been put inside to please the youth around.
Japanese automaker Toyota is fanatical to fortify its hybrid Prius sales not just for the fame but is marking a milestone by launching a new ’standard’ version of its gas-electric hybrid for 2008 model year.
The new-fangled model would cost around $20,950, exclusive of destination charges. This is by the way $1,225 cheaper compared to the lowest-cost 2007 model. However the customers would be able to choose from a listing of equipments to get installed on this version which is standard on the existing variants.
Bill Kwong, a spokesman for Toyota Motor Sales USA cited in a statement on the need to launch this cheaper Prius:
We’re just trying to make it available for everybody.
The budge by Toyota has an endorsement by the market analysts. According to them, this is not exactly a move by the company to boost the sales of the car as it is immensely popular in the market.
[Via:Techwhack]
[Image:Toyota]
Finally, Volvo has come up with a hybrid. The ReCharge concept is a plug-in hybrid, with individual electric motors given to each wheel. ReCharge is a specially designed C30, prepared for the Frankfurt Motor Show.
This one has been in the rumor mill for long and has finally made its way out of the mill, with a badge saying ‘its true’. Prius is on its way to become a brand for Toyota. Toyota envisages the Prius marque to span an entire lineup of hybrid vehicles, with a distinctive styling that will yell loudly about the vehicles’ green credentials.
Saturn Vue Green Hybrid is the greenest SUV you can find. This hybrid SUV posts fuel economy at 27mpg in the city and 32mpg on the highway, better than any other SUV. This SUV doesn’t just beat other SUVs when it comes to fuel efficiency, it betters Toyota Camry hybrid and Honda Accord hybrid as well.
The Vue hybrid is 27% more fuel friendly than the non-hybrid version and is capable of running 585 miles on the highway on a single tank full of gasoline. Priced at $24,795, it is also pretty affordable. This SUV surely breaks the ‘gas guzzler’ image of the SUVs. If only there could be more SUVs like the Vue hybrid!
[Courtesy: GM]
The man who brought us the Yugos and imported the first Subaru to the American shores will now bring a plug-in electric hybrid. The luxury sedan EVX/LS will be fuel-efficient and is likely to give an economy of more than 100mpg. Bricklin plans to build the car by 2010 and win the Automotive X-Prize with a production model.
It is largely believed that hybrids cannot stand up to the same footing as gasoline driven cars, atleast not in the near future. Here’s a myth buster, called Lightning. This electric sports car is emission free and can race to a maximum speed of 130mph.
Volvo has unveiled a range of truck engines that have been adapted to run on green fuel. These engines can be powered by a range of fuels, from synthetic diesel to a mixture of hydrogen and biogas. The company added that its engines and the proposed fuels do not add carbon dioxide to the environment.
Toyota’s plans to run a Prius on Lithium-ion batteries have hit a roadblock. Launch of the new Toyota Prius that was to run on Lithium-ion batteries has been pushed back to 2011, instead of the previously planned 2008 models year.
Toyota had to take this decision due to potential safety problems with its Lithium-ion cells. Panasonic EV Energy had provided the Li-ion batteries for Toyota; the same company also provides Nickel Metal Hydride batteries for the current range of Toyota hybrids. The material used in Toyota’s Lithium ion batteries provides more power but is thermally unstable and there was a lurking danger of fire or even explosion in these batteries.
It was speculated that the Prius running on Li-ion batteries would give an impressive fuel economy of 70mpg. As of now, the next Prius will run on conventional NiMH batteries, the Lithium powered Prius is expected to make a debut in 2011, when the Prius Wagon is launched. This delay has also pushed back the launch of hybrid versions of Tundra and Sequoia.
The delay in launch of Li-ion batteries from Toyota may give an opportunity to GM. GM has been targeted for having poor hybrid technology. GM is working on its own range of Li-ion battery powered hybrids, scheduled for launch in 2009 with the Saturn Vue Green Line plug-in hybrid and the Chevrolet Volt, which is scheduled for a 2010 launch.
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[Via: Greencarcongress]
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