February 3rd, 2010

From Green Right Now Reports

Could Nissan’s marketers have planned this any better?

Just as the carmaker is in the midst of a national tour of the Leaf, its much ballyhooed new electric plug-in, competitor Toyota finds itself in a tailspin over mysterious sudden acceleration events that now affect even its energy-efficient darling, the Prius.

The Prius, the nation’s best-selling and highest mileage hybrid car, looked to have a fruitful future, until this week, when it was implicated along with other Toyota brands in a safety scandal that grows larger with every news cycle.

The Leaf is not a hybrid, but part of the new generation of all-electric, plug-in vehicles (EVs) that will go head to head with hybrids already on the road. Due in showrooms this coming fall/winter, the Leaf is riding the leading edge of this new technology. It will offer excellent mileage as well as zero carbon tailpipe emissions (the car will still have an energy footprint related to its electricity use, which could be clean or fossil fuel energy, depending on where it is charged).

[Read more →]

October 27th, 2009

By Clint Williams
Green Right Now

There is no question the 2010 Toyota Prius is a comfortable compact with enviable fuel economy – we got a smidgen over 50 mpg in a week of driving.

But can you call a $30,000 hybrid an economy car?

2010 Prius

The iconic gasoline-electric hybrid favored by movie stars is all-new for this model year and the third-generation Prius offers more room, more power and more miles per gallon than its predecessors. It’s a pretty neat trick.

[Read more →]

August 3rd, 2009

By Clint Williams
Green Right Now

Gee-whiz technology always starts out expensive. Graying boomers can remember paying $400 for a VCR. That first DVD player probably set you back $600. Now you can buy one at a grocery store for less than $40.

The 2010 Honda Insight is no $40 DVD player, but it proves the point: costly technology eventually becomes affordable. The starting sticker price of the Insight LX, the most basic of the three trim levels available, is $19,800. The MSRP for the top-of-the-line Insight EX with navigation system is $23,100 plus $670 destination and handling fees.

[Read more →]

January 13th, 2009

By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

The North American International Auto Show in Detroit, that perennial display of motor muscle, finds itself in a serious mood this year.

With every top automaker in the U.S. reporting double-digit sales declines for 2008 (and GM still teetering on the precipice) it is a safe bet that the tenor at times will be more matte gray than Corvette red.

More from GRN
Slideshow: Detroit’s green cars for 2009

But for those who seek the light at the end of the tunnel, there is much to celebrate — or at least laud — at this year’s show. And most of it is green, green, green.

“It’s the most important year ever for hybrid vehicles. We’ve had most of our major press conferences completed, and probably 80 percent of the major press conferences all revolved around hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles,” said Doug Fox, co-chair of the 2009 NAIAS, which opens to the public on Saturday.

[Read more →]

October 13th, 2008

By Tom Kessler

Just as the iPod has become synonymous with digital music players, Toyota’s Prius is the only car people tend to think of when it comes to hybrid electric vehicles. The Prius alone accounts for 75 percent of the hybrid cars sold in the United States, according to Toyota.

With Honda taking aim at the same market with its redesigned, very Prius-looking Insight, it appears Toyota may try to extend its lead by turning Prius into a line of cars much like its Scion and Lexus brands. The New York Times reports that James E. Lentz III, president of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., is lobbying Toyota executives in Japan to make the move.

Lentz may well have the clout to pull this off: Americans buy 65 to 70 percent of all Toyota hybrids sold worldwide. The Times says Lentz doesn’t know when Toyota might approve the project but talks will continue next month in Japan.

[Read more →]

July 7th, 2008

Toyota will become the first major automaker to use solar power when it installs solar panels on the next-generation of its Prius hybrid, according to a Reuters report citing Japan’s Nikkei business daily. The Japanese automaker plans to add solar panels on the roof of the high-end Prius models to power the car’s air conditioning, [...]

[Read more →]