The world’s most popular hybrid car, the Toyota Prius, is getting a new look, and here are the first photos of it.
Caught earlier as a mule, with the new front welded to the old body, these are the very first photos of the completely new 2010 Toyota Prius due to bow at the Detroit auto show in January.
The new Prius has grown, and is now longer and wider; rear seat passengers have gotten more space, and the cargo area is bigger. Rumors suggest a whole family of Prius models - could that mean a wagon and maybe even a convertible with the Prius badge?
Insiders in Japan are talking about more power and better fuel economy. There might even be a plug-in version this time that will be even more fuel efficient. Toyota will change the Prius' NiMh batteries for lighter and smaller lithium-ion batteries. The lithium-ion will not just make it possible to have a smaller battery back, but will hold more energy as well.
Other news about the Prius: The roof will get solar cells to power the air conditioning, and it will be built in a new plant in Mississippi.
Biodiesel's nothing new to greenies and assorted car communists like TheCarConnection.com's own Colin Mathews (stay tuned for his first drive in VW's new TDI later this week). Now, police in the Philippines are getting in on the act--and McDonald's is the newest place for them to pit for fuel.
Breitbart reports that Manila police are trying to switch over some of their patrol cars to biodiesel, and that McDonald's stores in the city's Makati financial district are the source for used cooking oil. High oil prices have pushed the cops to make the switch to a blend of 40 percent diesel and 60 percent McDiesel, which is being donated by the local outlets of the chain.
The cops already have one car on the patrol and are looking for more restaurants to sign up for the program. Aside from the delicious after-scent, the cost savings could be good enough to make it a nationwide best practice, Manila police told the news site.
What's your take on biodiesel? Are you in it for the money or the French-fry smell? Tell us in a comment below if you've made the switch and where you get your fry on.
A new report from the Federal Highway Administration says American drivers logged fewer miles once more in May, for the seventh month in a row.
Bloomberg says the continued drops in driving could mean we're headed for the lowest total miles driven in the country since 1980--at the end of the Carter administration, which was also marked by a dramatic run-up in energy prices. The news service says May mileage for U.S. drivers dropped 3.7 percent from the year before, and that the seventh month of falling mileage beats previous stretches all the way back to 1979.
This time around, it's Iran, gas prices, and heavy consumption that have driven gas prices to historic $4 highs and have driven us to other solutions, including putting fewer miles on our vehicles. Back in 1980, the circumstances were eerily familiar: trouble in Iran, rising gas prices, and big-time gas bills from behemoth vehicles.
So far this year, American drivers have cruised 2.4 percent fewer miles than in 2007, with the north-central U.S. registering the biggest decline.
An Ann Arbor, Mich.-based environmental group says your vehicle's "new-car smell" is less likely to cause you harm this year, but it still is essentially made up of toxic gases masked by the fragrant, earthy smell of capitalism.
The Ecology Center's annual report on new-car smell puts the Acura RDX at the top of its list for least-toxic new-car smell--which it says contains poisons linked to allergies and cancer. The RDX (see chart below) has a ranking of 0.6 on the group's concern scale, while a whopper like the Mitsubishi EclipseSpyder GT (their spelling incorrect) tops the charts at 4.7. We're not sure what units they're measuring, but in proportion, the Mitsu's about eight times worse than the Acura.
Of all automakers, GM made the biggest improvements in cutting back on toxic materials, and Mazda and Nissan did a pretty good job, too.
The Ecology Center says new-car smell is composed of chlorine, lead, and flame retardants, all bad stuff that can cause a host of immune problems. It also says the same chemicals are present in child car seats.
To conclude, the group's rankings of the top ten and worst ten vehicles--here for you in handy chart form:
The favorite soap opera at Ford isn't the company's ongoing troubles with Mercury, or plummeting truck sales--no, these days it seems to be the travails of Cecilia Marquez.
Marquez is the heroine of the Spanish-language, online soap opera called Amores de Luna. It's the story of a woman who seems to have everything, except a career as a writer, something we have dreams of too, here at TheCarConnection.com.
Cleverly, the mini-soap's Webisode player is wrapped in all sorts of ads for the 2009 Ford Flex. So far, there are 15 episodes online, as well as bios for the characters and even a blog for Cecilia--none of which I can read without the help of Babelfish, since I took useless French in high school instead of the more prescient Spanish option. The site even offers some bloopers, in an interesting cradle-to-grave media play.
It won't replace Days of Our Lives on our TiVo, but it's easily more watchable than dreck like Work Out. If Cecilia gets a lesbian evil twin, though, we're done. Before you commit to the whole 30-minute experience, check out this brief clip like we did. Roll tape:
Veteran auto journalist Marty Padgett gives you news and opinions on the latest, hottest, greenest and fastest new vehicles on the market--and what's coming down the road.
RSS
Send Feedback!
;)
The world’s most popular hybrid car, the Toyota Prius, is getting a new look, and here are the first photos of it.;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
