Not a big post, rather a Twitter-style update. Just to confirm that I saw the first 2010 Prius on the streets of Seattle, WA a week ago. There are still waiting lists galore at the dealers but this lucky guy (or gal) had probably been on the list long enough to get the first 2010 model. It was silver color - looks like the most popular color out there. And yes, it is a shame I did not have a camera with me

I am going to see the Third Gen Prius this weekend in NYC! Have been looking for it in Philly in Feb 2009 but I guess it has not been ready (or Philly Auto Show is not important enough - seems plausible ) The show is at the Javits Center, not too far from the Lincoln Tunnel - pretty convenient place.
Anyways, here is what Toyota promises to show beyond EPA-estimated 51MPG city / 48MPG highway gas mileage : (more…)

July 10, 2008

Toyota said today that it will start assembling its Prius hybrid car in the US. The assembly will take place at their brand new plant (currently under construction) in Blue Springs, Mississippi, just northwest of Tupelo. The production will start in late 2010. It is our hope that the plant will produce the new generation plug-in Prius (prototype of which is pictured here). Click here for more (more…)

Well, let’s see: a new color - Spectra Blue Mica, as pictured here. A new 5th generation DVD navigation - DVD update, not hardware from what I can tell.
2008 Prius has narrower wheels - 5.5 in vs. 6 in on a 2007 model. An attempt to make them even less rolling resistant? The specs show the same tires and so the profile is going to be a tad different.
Anything else? (more…)

This post is here just for fun. There is no high-tech stuff below. Not a single chunk!

In case you were not sure how spacious the trunk of a Toyota Prius is or how useful a Prius can be in gardening, here is the proof
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I was working on a larger post about Prius plug-in conversion kits (come back soon for it) and this mini-rant I wrote up for the post did not quite fit here, so I made a separate post for it.
Here is what the peculiarities are: (more…)

Toyota unveiled a new concept on the Geneva, Switzerland Auto Show on March 6, 2007. First thing that comes to mind: Does it look like Prius to you or what? I would guess Prius’s 0.26 aerodynamic drag coefficient is hard to beat which is going to dictate the shape of the future fuel saving cars. Let’s see what else is nice about the new hybrid:
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So, the word (and the picture that’s worth a thousand more words) got out on the new ‘09 Toyota Prius. Kudos to folks at Popular Mechanics for publishing their spy report in the March 2007 issue of the magazine. There are scarce details about the next-gen Prius yet but here is what’s known so far:

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I have kept this (horrible quality) cameraphone picture for a couple of months until now hoping that I might beat the 52.4 MPG mark that you see there. Well, it was not that easy… (more…)

It is very nice of Uncle Sam to offer any incentive for purchasing a hybrid car at all in addition to the money you are saving on the gas. I’m not sure how the car manufacturers were able to pull it off and I’m pretty sure I don’t want to know, but it’s there for you if you bought your Prius in 2006 or the first nine months of 2007. Read on for how to apply for your credit (more…)