When car buyers think of hybrids, the name that most often springs to mind is the Toyota Prius since it was the first really practical hybrid to come to market and has sold more than any other examples. Yes, of course, the original Honda Insight beat the Prius to market in the U.S. by about six months, but the tiny two-seater sold in equally tiny numbers and had limited appeal beyond hard core hyper milers. In the coming weeks, Toyota dealers will start getting their first allotments of the all-new third-generation Prius, and while we got to spend a few hours with one on the west coast ... Read More

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Spy Shots: Next-gen Toyota Prius spied inside and out 1369427400

Toyota has built itself into the industry's standard-bearer when it comes to hybrids, and it isn't going to let the poster child for gas-electric vehicles get stale on the market. These spy shots captured in California are our first good look at the next-generation Prius, which could come to market wearing a 2015 model year designation. Even though it ...
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Toyota upping lithium-ion battery production 6x for introduction to Prius family 1369059720

There are already lithium-ion batteries in some Toyota vehicles (the Prius Plug-in Hybrid, the RAV4 EV and the European Prius+, for example), but the company's standard bearer – the non-plug Prius hybrid – still relies on nickel metal hydride (NiMH) cells. But, the future belongs to li-ion, and that's why Toyota will soon increase its ...
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A family's 10-year history with a 2003 first-gen Toyota Prius 1368813180

The Toyota Prius has put in its time as the benchmark for hybrids and fuel efficient vehicles on American roads. For Scott Burns, it's put in time as a family car as well, and one he's been incredibly happy with. Burns, writing in the Houston Chronicle, says owning a 2003 first-generation Toyota Prius for the past 10 years has been smooth. (The larger, ...
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April 2013: Prius sales slow, competition grows edition 1367596560

Year-over-year advanced-powertrain sales numbers in the US continued to slow last month as Japanese automakers like Toyota and Honda failed to hit the demand levels seen in 2012. A surge in Nissan Leaf sales, which helped push plug-in sales up 41 percent from a year earlier, and demand for newer Ford hybrids helped offset the effect of falling Prius ...
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Report: Toyota Prius line may not reach 2013 sales target 1366654500

2012 was a good year for the Toyota Prius line, the hybrid that started it all moving 236,659 units, being the best-selling model in California for the year and the Prius C (pictured) being deemed the most reliable car of 2012 by Consumer Reports. Then 2013 happened, and gas prices dropped more than expected, and people haven't been buying the little ...

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Emperor Bob Lutz doesn't disappoint in SAE World Congress keynote 1366311300

Sometimes, a little suggestion goes a long, long way. Speaking at the SAE World Congress in Detroit today, Bob Lutz took a proposal from the conference organizers to frame his speech around the idea that he was king of the auto industry for a week and ran with it. He said he'd need to rule over the entire US to get his ideas enacted, oh, and be an ...
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Hybrid sales up 32% so far this year, could hit 8% of market by 2020 1364860260

Hybrid vehicle sales jumped high in the first two months of 2013 – up 32 percent compared with the same period of 2012, according to Autodata Corp. A long-term forecast by Gartner Inc. is even more optimistic – while the market share for US new vehicle sales has grown to four percent for hybrids, that figure could double by the end of this ...
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Relax, electric-drive vehicles play nice with pacemakers, defibrillators 1363800780

For out there who's freaked out that the electromagnetic waves from a hybrid or plug-in vehicle will throw off pacemakers and cause heart attacks, go ahead and breathe easy: that ain't gonna happen. No less of an authority than the Mayo Clinic took it upon itself to test whether pacemakers or defibrillators are affected by electric-drive vehicles, and ...
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Toyota ready with NY dealer incentives to move lots of Prius Plug-in Hybrids 1362747720

Toyota appears to be in a New York State of Mind when it comes to trying to boost sales of its Prius Plug-in hybrid. The Japanese automaker wants to sell as many as 13,000 Prius PHEVs this year and is offering some deep discounts, especially in the Manhattan area, to hit that target, Wards Auto reports. Specifically, Toyota is offering a $6,500 markdown ...
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February green car year-over-year vehicle sales plateau, Prius lags 1362353340

Americans may have finally gotten a taste of Toyota Prius overkill, hinted at by last month's rare decline in year-over-year sales for the world's most popular hybrid. The Prius' decline caused overall advanced powertrain vehicle sales numbers in February to level off considerably relative to previous months. As a result, advanced powertrain sales ...