I think it was more of an experiment. They only built 300 for sale in CA only. One big plus, I do not have to have it smogged same as the Prius. I wonder if I can park for free anywhere. With possible rolling blackouts I will be able to keep the refrigerator and freezer going. I used it to cut up a tree with my electric chain saw. That saves the pollution put out by my gas chain saw. My understanding the GMC hybrid puts out less pollution as an AC generator, than a comparable gas generator. It has four 20 amp circuits.
Didn't know that they still had rolling blackouts. I know a few folks that have attached inverters to their Prius for electric. The amperage would be low, but somewhat useable. Same holds true for any vehicle I suppose. In a hybrid you'd drain the pack, then have the engine kick in when it's time to charge.
I think they were pre-empted by Katrina. On the GMC the engine is running most of the time you are using the invertor. Supposedly it is more efficient than those portable gensets. I don't think I would take a chance on voiding the Prius warranty by adding an invertor to the traction battery.
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Sweltering heat and the loss of a key transmission line Thursday forced power officials in Southern California to impose rolling blackouts, leaving as many as half a million people without power for about half an hour, officials said.
You wrote My understanding the GMC hybrid puts out less pollution as an AC generator, than a comparable gas generator. That would be fine if it were used only as a generator. However, the vehicle is intended to be driven. That puts another huge gas-guzzler on the road with each sale of such vehicles. How can we consider that to be environmentally friendly?
How can we consider that to be environmentally friendly?
Good question. If we were offered a smaller PU that would get 35-45 MPG and tow my 3500 LB utility trailer I would go for it. If I am ever limited to one vehicle, IT will be a PU truck, nothing else will do. Full size PU truck sales are up this year because they are practical and get nearly the mileage of the small PU trucks in real world mileage. If any segment needs a small diesel it is the small-midsize PU truck group.
That sounds like a splendid idea but I can't see how it would get that type of mileage. I would surmise that a diesel engine would be good for a configuration as you desire.
I spent time visiting with these two young men from Brazil. They drove this Ford Ranger diesel with 5 speed manual transmission from the tip of South America to the Arctic Ocean. They averaged just under 45 MPG. They indicated that no one wanted the gas versions in Brazil.
Gary, they must have been talking Imperial MPG, not USA mpg......I find it hard to swallow that a heavy diesel pickup can equal the MPG of my HCH.....LOL...even the Jetta diesel has a hard time holding 45 MPG - how can a much heavier pickup do that?
Someone was mistaken.....:D
P.S. that silly smile on their faces is another indicator that they were fibbing you.....
P.S.P.S. Further research on the web shows the 85-87 FRD is rated at 28/31. No way they were getting 45 MPG unless they were the world's first and best Diesel Hypermilers !!!
"Gary, they must have been talking Imperial MPG, not USA mpg......I find it hard to swallow that a heavy diesel pickup can equal the MPG of my HCH.....LOL...even the Jetta diesel has a hard time holding 45 MPG - how can a much heavier pickup do that?"
Larsb, That is not a heavy truck, it is about the same an an HH.
Yeah, you've got to realize I'm here in the land of the behemoth truck (Southern California). I think most of them are status symbols, driven by people who couldn't care less what gas costs. They just put their credit cards in the pump and wait until it shuts off, get back in the car, and drive off - never having looked at the price.
The real pity is the poorer folks who have to buy the large SUVs for those 6 - 7 kid families - they have no choice. And believe me, they check the pump for the final price.
Of course, the Feds don't help, allowing diesels only in trucks over 6000 lbs. Stupid, just stupid.
I find it hard to believe too especially when you compare it to the EPA rating which usually are optimistic to begin with. Gagrice... Why don't you buy that truck if it meets your requirements?
News item today Audi, VW and Porsche to Make Hybrid Engine 11:02 a.m. 09/12/2005 Provided By AP Online FRANKFURT, Germany, Sep 12, 2005 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- German automakers Volkswagen AG, Audi AG and Porsche AG said Monday they would work together to develop a new fuel-efficient hybrid engine for their automobiles. Complete details of the new program weren't revealed, nor was a timeline, when the agreement was announced at the International Auto Show in Frankfurt. Audi, a part of Wolfsburg-based VW, Europe's biggest automaker, said it would take the lead in the development of the new hybrid. The move comes less than a week after BMW AG said it would join with General Motors Corp. and DaimlerChrysler AG to develop their own hybrid engine. GM and DaimlerChrysler finalized their own hybrid partnership last month. Under that agreement, GM is the lead designer of hybrid engines for rear-wheel and all-wheel-drive, full-size trucks and sport utility vehicles, front-wheel-drive cars and crossover vehicles. DaimlerChrysler is the lead designer of hybrid engines for rear-wheel-drive luxury cars. Hybrid engines have been touted as a way to make automobiles more fuel efficient and less-costly to run but current cars that sport them tend to cost between $4,000 to $9,000 more than counterparts with regular engines under the hood. In a two-mode hybrid system, a vehicle can be powered either by two electric motors or by the combustion engine, or the systems can be used simultaneously. Currently, Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. dominate the hybrid market. Ford Motor Co. also sells two SUVs that use hybrid technology.
You wrote "Full size PU truck sales are up this year because they are practical and get nearly the mileage of the small PU trucks in real world mileage." Sorry, but that's NOT the reason that "Full size PU truck sales are up this year ". The real reason is that GM, Ford and Daimler Chrysler went to employee discounts to dump those slow moving gas guzzlers.
I think that it's a good bet that many of those buyers are having second thoughts now that gas price reality has set in.
I think that the savings those people realized are going to take a long time to erode even with today's prices. I am predicting a national average of $2.42 for regular by Oct 30th. Mark your calendars
Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp., the world's second-largest automaker, said all its vehicles will eventually be run by hybrid gasoline-electric motors, as record fuel prices curb demand for conventional automobiles.
``In the future, the cars you see from Toyota will be 100 percent hybrid,'' Executive Vice President Kazuo Okamoto told reporters in Frankfurt yesterday, without giving a timeframe.
Japan's biggest carmaker is aiming to make as many as 400,000 gasoline-electric vehicles in 2006, including Prius cars, Camry sedans, Highlander sport-utility vehicles and Coaster buses, 60 percent more than 2005's target, President Katsuaki Watanabe said at an investor conference in New York yesterday.
Toyota has sold 425,000 gasoline-electric cars since 1997 and is trying to profit from its lead over General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. in the technology. Watanabe said he aims to cut production costs and halve the $5,000 price premium on such vehicles, without giving details.
``Toyota has been the leader of the pack in environmental technology and they will probably continue to be,'' said Norihito Kanai, an analyst at Meiji Dresdner Asset Management Co. in Tokyo. ``Many of its rivals were at first not so aggressive in hybrids, but now we see everyone joining.''
"The transmission used by Toyota Motor in its Prius gasoline-electric vehicle has infringed on a patent owned by Solomon Technologies, according to a lawsuit filed by the U.S. maker of electric motors.
Solomon Technologies filed a suit Monday in federal court in Tampa, Florida, seeking unspecified damages from Toyota. Toyota is "looking into the law suit and the issue," said the carmaker's spokeswoman, Ai Ishitoya, in Tokyo.
Solomon Technologies examined an existing Toyota Prius transmission against its patent claims before filing its suit, the statement said."
"I think that the savings those people realized are going to take a long time to erode even with today's prices. I am predicting a national average of $2.42 for regular by Oct 30th. Mark your calendars"
I have heard some news stories that a few analyists are thinking that oil is currently overpriced, and is currently in a "bubble", which will burst eventually. The prices are being driven by speculators, not by market conditions. Other analyists think that, while it may be a bubble, it may not burst soon.
This article seems to post both viewpoints on the issue:
"``In the future, the cars you see from Toyota will be 100 percent hybrid,'' Executive Vice President Kazuo Okamoto told reporters in Frankfurt yesterday, without giving a timeframe."
What he is not saying is that also means that vehicles will have to get lighter and smaller. Otherwise the hybridization does not provide any fuel savings. Of course, there are performance gains, but the whole gist of that article is that people will want better MPG, which doesn't happen with heavy hybrids. I would think that the HH and RX400 are about as heavy as a vehicle can get and still get any significant MPG benefit, and they are on the margin of the envelope.
Once at or above that weight, a diesel engine would quite possibly yield better results.
Actually the Lexus/HH get extremely good mileage when you compare them to the average economy car. Getting 27mpg on the highway at 60mph with a 4000lb vehicle is great. I had a 1984 200SX that barely got that much and it weighed 2600lbs and had 100hp.
The president of Toyota Motor says he has told his engineering chief to find a way to cut in half the price difference between fuel-efficient gas-electric hybrids and similar gasoline models.
We simply can't go into every aspect of hybrids in every topic and have one huge discussion that goes everywhere. Please pay attention to the topics that you're posting in and stay on topic.
news item: Automakers Eye Hybrids As Gas Prices Rise 08:59 a.m. 09/14/2005 Provided By AP Online FRANKFURT, Germany, Sep 14, 2005 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- After some initial skepticism, the world's automakers are embracing hybrid vehicles in an effort to match Toyota's success and give customers more options to combat high gas prices. At the Frankfurt auto show this week, German automakers Volkswagen AG, Audi AG and Porsche AG said they were forming an alliance to develop hybrid engines. Last week, BMW AG joined General Motors Corp. and DaimlerChrysler AG in a similar partnership. Audi unveiled the first gas-electric hybrid vehicle from a European automaker at the show, a version of its new Q7 sport utility vehicle that will go on sale in 2008. DaimlerChrysler also said it will release its first hybrid Mercedes before the next Frankfurt auto show, which will be held in 2007. Toyota Motor Corp. remains the runaway leader in the field. The Japanese company was the first to begin mass-producing hybrids with its Prius in 1997. Toyota sold 53,761 Prius cars in the United States last year, and Prius sales were up 133 percent in the first eight months of this year, according to the company. GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said that kind of success has caused other automakers to take notice. In particular, he said, some companies that have been betting on pollution-free hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles have decided to produce hybrids in the near-term, since hydrogen likely won't be a viable alternative for another decade. "I think what happened was the manifest success of the Prius caused a rethink on everybody's part," Lutz said. GM plans to debut a hybrid system on the Tahoe and Yukon trucks in 2007. Hybrid engines have been touted as a way to make automobiles more fuel efficient and less-costly to run. But current cars that sport them tend to cost between $4,000 to $9,000 more than counterparts with regular engines under the hood. In a two-mode hybrid system, a vehicle can be powered either by two electric motors or by the combustion engine, or the systems can be used simultaneously.
They're certainly not going to tumble. Hybrids make a great deal of economic sense with $3.00USD gas. As most Americans know, Jan 1, 06 most hybrid buyers will get a nice tax credit. It is a shame that other governments don't encourage purchases (via tax incentives) of either hybrids or fuel efficient diesels. I have saved thousands since I bought my hybrid.
Not anytime soon. This is just Toyota's agenda. In the meantime, there will be a price difference. Unfortunately dealers are once again gouging as demand soars because of gas prices.
How soon is soon, we will find out when Toyota prices the Toyota hybrid Camry!
In Canada the new Civic Hybrid price will drop by about 13 to 14 percent compared to the current model(28.5 CDN$ to 24K price range). This deflated pricing will be the future of hybrid pricing---assuming automakers want to make hybrids mainstream vehicles?
The way I understood the article was that it was their goal to lower the prices. It had no timeframe listed. I am quite certain that when they do release the Camry hybrid it will definitely carry a premium over the 4cy and even the 6cyl model. How much? No one knows for sure. The HCH for 06 is 21.5k list price. I don't see a difference between that price and the 05. If anything, it is a little more.
I am quite certain that when they do release the Camry hybrid it will definitely carry a premium over the 4cy
I dont recall mentioning that hybrid and non-hybrid versions will carry the same price tag? I recall saying the premiums will drop!
The HCH for 06 is 21.5k list price. I don't see a difference between that price and the 05.
In Canada the HCH price is dropping by about 13 to 14 percent!
Why the price cuts in Canada and not the USA? Could it be that we Canadians dont get such generous tax advantages as you fellows down south! Maybe in Canada market prices are what determine the value of hybrids and not IRS incentives!
The problem is that people still compare the extra 3k they have to spend, versus the gas savings over the life of the car and decide it's not worth it.
What needs to happen is the other positives need to be talked about. Like not having to fill up as much.
Actually, it isn't necessarily true that you don't have to fill up as much with a hybrid. Take the RX400h, for instance. The highway ranges of the AWD RX330 and the RX400h are about equal, and the highway range of the FWD RX330 is greater than that of the RX400h. (The gas tank of the RX400h is smaller.)
Mercedes says the Bluetec design is being tested in fleets and will meet stringent California emissions standards that have kept manufacturers from selling diesels in that state.
If it is a luxury hybrid it will probably be in the same price range as the RX400h. I wonder how much of 1990s Chrysler hybrid technology is in that car. They scrapped that one because they did not believe anyone would pay a big premium to have a hybrid. Miscalculation on Chrysler's part.
It is based on the S class which is their flagship auto. I doubt it will sell for <50k like the Lexus. I really hope they bring it here because eventually it will trickle down to their less expensive models. I'd be interested in something like the C class size wagon. I won't pay more than 50k.
When Gov. Jeb Bush stepped out of the Capitol last week for lunch at a downtown Tallahassee restaurant, he crossed paths with Rep. Adam Hasner, R-Delray Beach. Soon the pair were talking about their respective sport utility vehicles -- both fuel-efficient hybrids. Bush mentioned a few other Republican officials who also own hybrids.
"I've started a trend," Bush said proudly.
His Ford Escape, provided by the state Department of Environmental Protection, arrived recently at the Governor's Mansion to replace a gas-guzzling Expedition.
White Plains, NY - Westchester County has announced the addition of 34 new hybrid vehicles to its fleet of county cars. The 34 new cars include Honda Civics and Accords and Ford Escape SUVs. Excluding emergency and police vehicles, the hybrids now account for about 9 percent of the county’s 250 vehicles.
Firefighters and paramedics say that hybrid vehicles like the Prius, which use high-voltage batteries to power their electric motors, worry them, because they present unfamiliar challenges when a rescue team reaches the scene of an accident. Among the challenges is the potential for an electric motor, inadvertently left on, to move the car during a rescue operation.
Toyota's concept car, designed inside by the rigorous engineering team at Toyota, sports a flashy Italian design from the skin up as conceptualized by famed Italian designer Giugiaro of ItalDesign.
Forget the rickety Mexican taxicab style and performance offered by other hybrids. Thanks to a 3-liter V6 augmented by dual front and rear electric motors, this car boasts a breakneck 0-60 mph in just over four seconds while still offering around 30/mpg under normal driving conditions.
Tuesday, Toyota Motors shocked industry analysts with the announcement that their critically acclaimed concept car, previously named the Volta, after the man who discovered electricity, redubbed "the Priapus" by both Car & Driver and Road & Track, will be available to consumers in Germany by Christmas 2005, and the U.S. three months later.
Comments
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Sweltering heat and the loss of a key transmission line Thursday forced power officials in Southern California to impose rolling blackouts, leaving as many as half a million people without power for about half an hour, officials said.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/08/25/calif.blackouts.ap/
You wrote My understanding the GMC hybrid puts out less pollution as an AC generator, than a comparable gas generator. That would be fine if it were used only as a generator. However, the vehicle is intended to be driven. That puts another huge gas-guzzler on the road with each sale of such vehicles. How can we consider that to be environmentally friendly?
Good question. If we were offered a smaller PU that would get 35-45 MPG and tow my 3500 LB utility trailer I would go for it. If I am ever limited to one vehicle, IT will be a PU truck, nothing else will do. Full size PU truck sales are up this year because they are practical and get nearly the mileage of the small PU trucks in real world mileage. If any segment needs a small diesel it is the small-midsize PU truck group.
Someone was mistaken.....:D
P.S. that silly smile on their faces is another indicator that they were fibbing you.....
P.S.P.S. Further research on the web shows the 85-87 FRD is rated at 28/31. No way they were getting 45 MPG unless they were the world's first and best Diesel Hypermilers !!!
Larsb,
That is not a heavy truck, it is about the same an an HH.
Yeah, you've got to realize I'm here in the land of the behemoth truck (Southern California). I think most of them are status symbols, driven by people who couldn't care less what gas costs. They just put their credit cards in the pump and wait until it shuts off, get back in the car, and drive off - never having looked at the price.
The real pity is the poorer folks who have to buy the large SUVs for those 6 - 7 kid families - they have no choice. And believe me, they check the pump for the final price.
Of course, the Feds don't help, allowing diesels only in trucks over 6000 lbs. Stupid, just stupid.
Audi, VW and Porsche to Make Hybrid Engine
11:02 a.m. 09/12/2005 Provided By AP Online
FRANKFURT, Germany, Sep 12, 2005 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- German automakers Volkswagen AG, Audi AG and Porsche AG said Monday they would work together to develop a new fuel-efficient hybrid engine for their automobiles.
Complete details of the new program weren't revealed, nor was a timeline, when the agreement was announced at the International Auto Show in Frankfurt.
Audi, a part of Wolfsburg-based VW, Europe's biggest automaker, said it would take the lead in the development of the new hybrid.
The move comes less than a week after BMW AG said it would join with General Motors Corp. and DaimlerChrysler AG to develop their own hybrid engine.
GM and DaimlerChrysler finalized their own hybrid partnership last month. Under that agreement, GM is the lead designer of hybrid engines for rear-wheel and all-wheel-drive, full-size trucks and sport utility vehicles, front-wheel-drive cars and crossover vehicles. DaimlerChrysler is the lead designer of hybrid engines for rear-wheel-drive luxury cars.
Hybrid engines have been touted as a way to make automobiles more fuel efficient and less-costly to run but current cars that sport them tend to cost between $4,000 to $9,000 more than counterparts with regular engines under the hood.
In a two-mode hybrid system, a vehicle can be powered either by two electric motors or by the combustion engine, or the systems can be used simultaneously.
Currently, Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. dominate the hybrid market. Ford Motor Co. also sells two SUVs that use hybrid technology.
He can't. That is a 4 door ranger, export only, and non US Spec.
You wrote "Full size PU truck sales are up this year because they are practical and get nearly the mileage of the small PU trucks in real world mileage." Sorry, but that's NOT the reason that "Full size PU truck sales are up this year ". The real reason is that GM, Ford and Daimler Chrysler went to employee discounts to dump those slow moving gas guzzlers.
I think that it's a good bet that many of those buyers are having second thoughts now that gas price reality has set in.
``In the future, the cars you see from Toyota will be 100 percent hybrid,'' Executive Vice President Kazuo Okamoto told reporters in Frankfurt yesterday, without giving a timeframe.
Japan's biggest carmaker is aiming to make as many as 400,000 gasoline-electric vehicles in 2006, including Prius cars, Camry sedans, Highlander sport-utility vehicles and Coaster buses, 60 percent more than 2005's target, President Katsuaki Watanabe said at an investor conference in New York yesterday.
Toyota has sold 425,000 gasoline-electric cars since 1997 and is trying to profit from its lead over General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. in the technology. Watanabe said he aims to cut production costs and halve the $5,000 price premium on such vehicles, without giving details.
``Toyota has been the leader of the pack in environmental technology and they will probably continue to be,'' said Norihito Kanai, an analyst at Meiji Dresdner Asset Management Co. in Tokyo. ``Many of its rivals were at first not so aggressive in hybrids, but now we see everyone joining.''
Solomon Technologies filed a suit Monday in federal court in Tampa, Florida, seeking unspecified damages from Toyota. Toyota is "looking into the law suit and the issue," said the carmaker's spokeswoman, Ai Ishitoya, in Tokyo.
Solomon Technologies examined an existing Toyota Prius transmission against its patent claims before filing its suit, the statement said."
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/09/13/bloomberg/sxhybrid.php
I have heard some news stories that a few analyists are thinking that oil is currently overpriced, and is currently in a "bubble", which will burst eventually. The prices are being driven by speculators, not by market conditions. Other analyists think that, while it may be a bubble, it may not burst soon.
This article seems to post both viewpoints on the issue:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,152912,00.html
What he is not saying is that also means that vehicles will have to get lighter and smaller. Otherwise the hybridization does not provide any fuel savings. Of course, there are performance gains, but the whole gist of that article is that people will want better MPG, which doesn't happen with heavy hybrids. I would think that the HH and RX400 are about as heavy as a vehicle can get and still get any significant MPG benefit, and they are on the margin of the envelope.
Once at or above that weight, a diesel engine would quite possibly yield better results.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2005-09-12-toyota-hybrid_x.htm
We simply can't go into every aspect of hybrids in every topic and have one huge discussion that goes everywhere. Please pay attention to the topics that you're posting in and stay on topic.
Your post has been moved to that discussion and you may continue there.
Automakers Eye Hybrids As Gas Prices Rise
08:59 a.m. 09/14/2005 Provided By AP Online
FRANKFURT, Germany, Sep 14, 2005 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- After some initial skepticism, the world's automakers are embracing hybrid vehicles in an effort to match Toyota's success and give customers more options to combat high gas prices.
At the Frankfurt auto show this week, German automakers Volkswagen AG, Audi AG and Porsche AG said they were forming an alliance to develop hybrid engines. Last week, BMW AG joined General Motors Corp. and DaimlerChrysler AG in a similar partnership.
Audi unveiled the first gas-electric hybrid vehicle from a European automaker at the show, a version of its new Q7 sport utility vehicle that will go on sale in 2008.
DaimlerChrysler also said it will release its first hybrid Mercedes before the next Frankfurt auto show, which will be held in 2007.
Toyota Motor Corp. remains the runaway leader in the field. The Japanese company was the first to begin mass-producing hybrids with its Prius in 1997. Toyota sold 53,761 Prius cars in the United States last year, and Prius sales were up 133 percent in the first eight months of this year, according to the company.
GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said that kind of success has caused other automakers to take notice. In particular, he said, some companies that have been betting on pollution-free hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles have decided to produce hybrids in the near-term, since hydrogen likely won't be a viable alternative for another decade.
"I think what happened was the manifest success of the Prius caused a rethink on everybody's part," Lutz said. GM plans to debut a hybrid system on the Tahoe and Yukon trucks in 2007.
Hybrid engines have been touted as a way to make automobiles more fuel efficient and less-costly to run. But current cars that sport them tend to cost between $4,000 to $9,000 more than counterparts with regular engines under the hood.
In a two-mode hybrid system, a vehicle can be powered either by two electric motors or by the combustion engine, or the systems can be used simultaneously.
Based on the Forbes article above Toyota will reduce hybrid manufacturing costs and pass the savings to consumers.
Hybrids prices may not make much economic sense today but with Toyota's future endeavors that may change.
In the Frankfurt show there is a Audi Q7 hybrid SUV. Talk about an overpriced gas miser!!!
The MSRPs are going to go down but not tumble! What is going to tumble is the price gap between equivalent Toyota hybrid and non-hybrid models!
The tax credits in Ontario Canada where I live is so miniscule that it can be viewed as irrelevent.
How soon is soon, we will find out when Toyota prices the Toyota hybrid Camry!
In Canada the new Civic Hybrid price will drop by about 13 to 14 percent compared to the current model(28.5 CDN$ to 24K price range). This deflated pricing will be the future of hybrid pricing---assuming automakers want to make hybrids mainstream vehicles?
I dont recall mentioning that hybrid and non-hybrid versions will carry the same price tag? I recall saying the premiums will drop!
The HCH for 06 is 21.5k list price. I don't see a difference between that price and the 05.
In Canada the HCH price is dropping by about 13 to 14 percent!
Why the price cuts in Canada and not the USA?
Could it be that we Canadians dont get such generous tax advantages as you fellows down south! Maybe in Canada market prices are what determine the value of hybrids and not IRS incentives!
What needs to happen is the other positives need to be talked about.
Like not having to fill up as much.
http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/0916Gas-Savers-ON.html
Mercedes says the Bluetec design is being tested in fleets and will meet stringent California emissions standards that have kept manufacturers from selling diesels in that state.
http://www.detnews.com/2005/insiders/0509/16/0auto-316790.htm
"I've started a trend," Bush said proudly.
His Ford Escape, provided by the state Department of Environmental Protection, arrived recently at the Governor's Mansion to replace a gas-guzzling Expedition.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-capview1805sep18,0,7091896.column?coll- =orl-news-headlines-state
White Plains, NY - Westchester County has announced the addition of 34 new hybrid vehicles to its fleet of county cars. The 34 new cars include Honda Civics and Accords and Ford Escape SUVs. Excluding emergency and police vehicles, the hybrids now account for about 9 percent of the county’s 250 vehicles.
http://westchester.com/Westchester_News/Westchester_Government_and_Politics/County_Conserv- ing_Gas_With_Hybrid_Vehicles_200509185706.html
Firefighters and paramedics say that hybrid vehicles like the Prius, which use high-voltage batteries to power their electric motors, worry them, because they present unfamiliar challenges when a rescue team reaches the scene of an accident. Among the challenges is the potential for an electric motor, inadvertently left on, to move the car during a rescue operation.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/18/automobiles/18HYBRID.html
Toyota's concept car, designed inside by the rigorous engineering team at Toyota, sports a flashy Italian design from the skin up as conceptualized by famed Italian designer Giugiaro of ItalDesign.
Forget the rickety Mexican taxicab style and performance offered by other hybrids. Thanks to a 3-liter V6 augmented by dual front and rear electric motors, this car boasts a breakneck 0-60 mph in just over four seconds while still offering around 30/mpg under normal driving conditions.
Tuesday, Toyota Motors shocked industry analysts with the announcement that their critically acclaimed concept car, previously named the Volta, after the man who discovered electricity, redubbed "the Priapus" by both Car & Driver and Road & Track, will be available to consumers in Germany by Christmas 2005, and the U.S. three months later.
http://www.glossynews.com/artman/publish/toyota-volta-priapus-845.shtml
http://tinyurl.com/9e2ys