Toyota News & Blogs

SEMA Scene Green: Toyota Shows A More Eco-Friendly Prius

Adding both visual presence and environmental edge to its highest-mileage U.S. offering, Toyota publicly unveiled a pair of new Prius one-offs at SEMA aimed at furthering the cause of long-term sustainability. The prime example is the Prius Aerius (Latin for "belonging to the air"). It wears a four piece body kit from Five Axis Design that's made from polyurethane and partially recycled materials and was evaluated using racing-derived computational fluid dynamics (CFD) programs to ensure it maintained the standard car's exemplary 0.25 drag coefficient. The wheel/tire fitment builds on that base, wrapping Yokohama Super E-Spec low rolling resistance tires made from 80 percent non-petroleum materials and featuring a distinctive "leaf-graphic" tread...
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New Prius Plug-in Will Debut in Frankfurt -- And Head Here in 2010

As it prepares to show the world the latest plug-in version of its new Gen III Prius, Toyota has confirmed that it will produce a limited run of 500 of these super-efficient vehicles for extended demonstration and technical evaluation purposes, with 150 of them set for service in America starting early next year. Toyota says the cars that come here will all be allocated to various commercial and institutional fleet duty on a lease program designed to most effectively help the automaker learn more about how the plug-in hybrid powertrain, and specifically how its new Lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery pack, will perform in real-world daily use. The battery in the 2010 conventional production Prius is still based on the more common nickel-metal hydride...
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Toyota Global Hybrid Sales Top Two Million Mark

In a time when some automakers have yet to introduce their first hybrid vehicles, the world's largest purveyor of these high-efficiency gas-electric cars and trucks just announced that it has now sold over two million of them worldwide. As of August 31, Toyota's global cumulative sales for passenger cars eclipsed the 2,014,200 mark -- plus an additional 2,700 commercial vehicles. As expected, the single largest seller in that lot has been the Prius. Now in its third generation, the popular five-door hatchback has accounted for about 1.43 million units -- roughly 70 percent -- of the 2.01 million total. Toyota's hybrid history began back in 1997, when it launched the Coaster Hybrid EV microbus into the domestic market in August and followed it with...
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Aston Martin Plans New Premium City Car Based on Toyota iQ

These truly are strange times in the automotive world. The latest unexpected plot twist is seen here, as stylists from Aston Martin work on a clay design concept for a new "premium" city car that the firm plans to produce and sell within the next 12 months. While this up-line super-mini, currently dubbed the "Cygnet," will get its own unique front sheetmetal, wheel/tire fitment and unspecified Aston Martin interior enhancements, it will retain the same basic powertrain and running gear of Toyota's smash-hit iQ model. In confirming this revolutionary undertaking, Aston Martin Chief Executive Dr. Ulrich Bez noted: "Now is the right time for Aston Martin to take this first bold step to embark on this special project -- made possible with the support of...
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California Mandates Cooler Cars to Fight Global Warming

It's not quite what you think. But the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has just passed the first legislation requiring solar-efficient glass to be used in all new cars sold in that state starting in 2012. Beyond literally keeping occupants cooler in the summer, the coincident reduction in the use of air conditioning will help improve average fuel economy and decrease the amount of greenhouse gas emissions. This new regulation will be enacted using a two-stage roll. From 2012-2015, all vehicle glass must be capable of rejecting at least 45 percent of the sun's total heat-producing energy, except for the windshield which will have a 50 percent rejection requirement. Starting in 2016, the numbers will rise to 60 percent all around. CARB data...
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