Hybrid sales are taking off in Japan due to a perfect storm of newly available vehicles – namely the latest Toyota Prius and Honda Insight – and government-sponsored incentives. In Japan, gas is currently selling for about $4.50 a gallon, partly due to high fuel taxes in that country. In addition, the Japanese government has decreed that hybrid cars are exempt from taxes. Combine all of these factors and you end up with a seven-month waiting list for the new 2010 Toyota Prius.

In total, Toyota sold an impressive 22,292 Prius hybrids and Honda sold 8,782 Insights in Japan in the month of June, meaning that those two vehicles alone accounted for more sales than America's entire hybrid tally of 26,205 vehicles sold last month. Further breaking down the numbers reveals that one in every eight new cars sold in Japan is a hybrid, compared to one in three here in the United States.


[Source: Hybrid Cars]

According to Japan's Nikkei news agency, Toyota has decided to start series production of a plug-in version of the Prius hybrid in 2012. At launch, the automaker plans to build about 20,000-30,000 units a year of the plug-in hybrid. The report indicates that the model will be priced comparably to the Mitsubishi i-MiEV at about $48,000. That's a pretty steep price and quite a bit higher than the $40,000 pricetag expected to be applied to the Chevrolet Volt when it arrives late next year, and it also puts the PHEV Prius at about twice the price of a conventional model.

The PHEV Prius will likely be the first product to use lithium ion batteries produced by Panasonic EV Energy Co. The battery is expected to provide about 12-18 miles of range, although it's not clear how much of that will be possible without running the engine. We'll probably have a better idea of that next year after the 500 or so prototypes go into test fleets starting late this year.



[Source: Reuters]

Over the last ten years or so, Toyota has amassed a wide-ranging assortment of more than 2,000 patents related to its proprietary Hybrid Synergy Drive. That's an impressive figure to be sure, and it's also a possible source of income as more and more automakers follow Toyota's lead by introducing hybrid vehicles of their own.

Because Toyota has the hybrid patent market on straight lockdown, it's likely that rival automakers will be forced to license certain parts of the Japanese automaker's design, which could potentially help boost Toyota's bottom line. Says Gouichiro Kuriyama, a manager in Toyota's product planning division:

Our system is the best technology for hybrids to get the best carbon dioxide emissions and best fuel economy. [Rivals] will not be able to compete.

Indeed, both Ford and Nissan have licensed Toyota hybrid technology in the past. Both of those automakers, though, already have or are planning new hybrid systems and fully electric vehicles of their own design. Furthermore, alternatives like the Voltec powertrain from General Motors take a different path to arrive at the same gasoline-saving goal as Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive and European automakers like Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz are counting on diesel technologies to reduce fuel consumption.


[Source: Wall Street Journal]

We'd wager that the last thing Toyota wants in the midst of the super-important launch of its new third-generation Prius is a negative stigma attached to the previous model. Unfortunately, that's exactly what the Japanese automaker may have on its hands right now as a number of owners of 2005-2008 Toyota Prius hybrids with the "high-intensity discharge" (HID) headlight option are banding together on online forums, message boards and in possible class action lawsuits against the automaker in relation to failing headlamps.

According to Advertising Age, these HID headlight bulbs and their associated electronics can sometimes cost well over $1,000 to replace after they've gone faulty, and Toyota is unwilling to pick up the tab. At least one lawsuit was filed last month by Girard Gibbs in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on behalf of a Putnam County, N.Y., Prius owner. The suit contends that the problem is a "dangerous but undisclosed safety defect" and alleges that "Toyota is concealing the problems from owners" despite having been "long been aware of Prius' HID headlight problem." It's possible that the suit will get class-action status.

The NHTSA has reportedly filed a preliminary investigation into the issue and contacted Toyota on May 13 regarding the 338 complaints it has received so far from Prius owners regarding the HID headlamps. Spokesmen from Toyota have said the automaker is cooperating with the NHTSA in its investigation, which may or may not end up calling for an official recall.


[Source: Advertising Age]

Rumors that General Motors may get access to Toyota's proprietary hybrid technology just won't go away. Today, Bloomberg cites two unnamed sources in reports that Toyota President Akio Toyoda and GM chief Fritz Henderson will meet this August in Michigan to discuss the possibility of a GM-badged version of the Toyota Prius hybrid hatchback.

For the record, both General Motors and Toyota have repeatedly denied that any such talks have taken place and have said it's unlikely that they ever will in the future. Many of these rumors indicate that the two automakers are considering building the Prius together at the New United Motor Manufacturing Incorporated (NUMMI) joint venture in California, but GM has today announced that its involvement in NUMMI is over.

It remains a possibility that Toyota will fully take over the reigns at NUMMI to finally build the Prius in America, but even if that's the case, it's extremely unlikely that General Motors will have anything to do with the project in light of its own massive undertaking of readying the Chevy Volt for the market in 2011.


Photos copyright ©2009 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc.

[Source: Bloomberg]

While the argument about whether a Hummer H2 is actually more environmentally friendly than a Toyota Prius has long since been debunked (even if it keeps popping up its ugly head), it does raise a valid point. A major part of the environmental impact of transportation devices like cars and trucks comes during the manufacturing and disposal phases of their existences. Evaluating environmental impact requires total lifecycle analysis of the product, something that Toyota has done for the new 2010 Prius.

The Tsutsumi plant that builds the Prius is one of five ISO14001 certified Eco-factories in the Toyota network. The factory has a 50,000m² solar array on its roof that generates 5,000 2,000 kW per hour of electricity, about half of the plant's total requirements. Another 22,000m² of the factory is covered in a photocatalytic paint that converts NOx CO₂ to oxygen and nitrogen. A number of initiatives including zero land-fill waste, water recycling and reduced volatile organic compound use are all part of the overall effort to reduce the impact of building Priuses.


[Source: Toyota]

By now, we've all probably seen the commercials from Toyota's latest marketing campaign for the 2010 Prius hybrid... and we've all probably developed an opinion on them. Any time an advertising campaign is as interesting and different as this one, there are bound to be opposing viewpoints either favoring or strongly disliking them.

Fortunately for Toyota, more people like the commercials for the 2010 Prius than dislike them. In fact, Toyota's "Harmony" spot topped Nielsen's Top 10 Most-Liked New Ads list in May, and the "MPG" commercial came in at #3. For what it's worth, an advertisement for Coke came in at number 2.

If you've somehow managed to miss these commercials on television since the campaign was launched back in May, we've pasted three of them after the break for your viewing pleasure. There's also this behind-the-scenes action. Oh, if you don't like the American marketing campaign, there's always the Japanese commercials with Superman.


[Source: Advertising Age via Prius Chat]

Reports have been flying rampant over the last few days that General Motors and Toyota would be entering a joint agreement to share Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive technology through the two automaker's NUMMI joint venture. It appears the rumors began when Bloomberg ran a story quoting unnamed sources saying the Japanese automaker is considering producing the Prius at the plant it shares with GM in California.

Toyota denies that report as pure speculation, with Mike Goss, external affairs manager with Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, telling Green Car Advisor that it still plans to assemble the Prius at its unfinished plant in Mississippi at some point in the future.

General Motors also denies that it will license hybrid technology from Toyota. In a webchat session on GM's Fastlane Blog, Troy Clarke, President of GM North America, said of the rumors:

We are not in current discussions with Toyota on licensing their synergy drive. I would point out that we are working like crazy on our own hybrid technology. Also, we are really moving fast on the Volt of which you are well aware.

At this point, there seems to be no real evidence that General Motors and Toyota will share hybrid technology. Plus, as we've pointed out before, the whole rumor in general makes little sense.


[Source: Green Car Advisor]

There's no doubt that the Toyota Prius is the most well-known green car in the world, a fact that's as often attributed to the car's distinctive styling as it is to the car's impressive fuel efficiency. The latest 2010 model pushes that efficiency to a new level with a combined 50 mpg rating here in the States. Up next is likely a plug-in version of the Prius, almost certainly with a lithium ion battery.

Of course, there are ways to improve the fuel efficiency of the Toyota Prius besides adding a plug. According to Toyota R&D head Tasatami Takimoto, though, the options that the company is investigating doesn't currently include a diesel powerplant. He says:

We already make a diesel hybrid truck in Japan, but in order to mass-market diesel hybrids we need to make the exhaust emissions much cleaner, and that requires development. You have to combine this clean emissions technology with the hybrid system cost, so that means that, currently, it's a very high-cost powertrain for us. So for Toyota, it will take many more years.

[Source: Autocar]

The third generation Toyota Prius is just ramping up its marketing mojo, and one place you'll see plenty of the gold standard hybrid is at the gas pump, at least virtually. Toyota is hooking up with Gas Station TV to present "Prius Neighborhood" television program to the over 1 million unique viewers that stare at LCD TVs while they fuel up. Prius Neighborhood is the latest effort to intertwine social media with traditional communication tools. Anyone can submit grassroots and community events via the GSTV website, and select events will actually appear at the pump, sandwiched between ads for the 50 mpg hybrid.

Those interested in following events on Prius Neighborhood can do so on Facebook, as well as Twitter at @GSTVevents. The site contains a calender of charity and community events searchable by zip code, and some of the events will be chosen for air on GSTV. GSTV airs in over 1,000 gas stations in the U.S., hitting 22 of the 25 top markets. Hit the jump to view the GSTV press release.


[Source: IT News Online]