October 10th, 2010 (10-10-2010)
Mark your calendar, there is going to be a celebration soon! Toyota is planning some (unspecified) festivities to mark the 10th anniversary of its iconic hybrid car. Here is a little quirk: (more…)

The time has come for us to learn about the pricing of the first 100% electric car mass-produced by a major automotive company. Nissan has just announced the pricing and availability of their revolutionary LEAF™ electric car. Whether you’ll find it affordable or too expensive completely depends on how close your average daily mileage is to the 100 miles per day that Nissan had designed the car for. In their announcement Nissan also points out that some government incentives in the form of tax credits may be available to you. So, exactly how affordable can it be to drive a car producing zero tailpipe emissions? Keep reading to find out… (more…)

I have to admit I had no idea Toyota has a VP of Customer Retention but apparently Mr. Dave Zellers have his work cut out for him lately. I am reminded of that every time I drive by a Ford dealership in the area that posted a huge “$1000 Toyota trade in reward” sign a couple of months ago. I have received an e-mail from Toyota’s Headquarters today (as I’m sure did millions of other Toyota owners in recent days / weeks) and decided that this is the least I can do for my favorite automaker. I did have a few small issues I wanted to tell them about and I’ve actually appreciated the opportunity. So here goes: (more…)

As the news come in about yet another Toyota recall, this time involving the 2010 Prius (Japan only so far), it starts to look very much like the issue is not the mere 1.5″ long piece of metal pictured here. I honestly don’t know what is more embarrassing in terms of PR for Toyota: admit to improperly designing a pedal or letting a bug slip into the software that runs their vehicles. C’mon Toyota, a pedal that gets jammed? You guys can do better than that. (more…)

Conceived by famed Italian designer Giugiaro of ItalDesign, the Toyota Hybrid Priapus is not only an energy efficient sport car, but also a sizzling and sleek fast car that catches the eye of every sports car enthusiast. It contains a 3-liter V6 enhanced by dual front and rear electric motors. The Priapus is powered by a striking 408 hp Hybrid Synergy Drive. A conventional gas and electric hybrid, the Priapus lists at over $70,000. This hot roadster can accelerate from 0-60 mph in just over four seconds. As well, it provides about 30/mpg during usual driving practices. There is no comparison with this efficient sports car to the new 2010 Toyota Prius Hybrid car in performance value.
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Toyota has been making some news lately with their runaway vehicles and they are trying to do something about it. I’ve just received the Interim Notice letter I’ve been hearing about for a few weeks now and set out to see if the floor mat could be a likely culprit, as described in the letter. Here is what I’ve found:

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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…)

Those of you lucky ones on the West Coast: do not miss a great opportunity to catch up on the latest and greatest in the alternative cars and other non-traditional means of transportation. There is a show at The Barker Hanger in Santa Monica on October 19-20. Attendance is free! There promises to be a lot of fun down there with the historic EV1 display (I believe, the only one left!), special collection of super high mileage prototype cars, Honda Civic GX test drive and more.

GM’s Volt and Tesla’s Roadster are notably missing. Oh, well. See if you can catch a test-drive in a Zap instead. Don’t forget to take a picture of yourselves inside! Send me your pictures to infoAtfuelzilladotcom and I’ll make sure to post them here!

Read on for the list of exhibitors and the address … (more…)

We’ve just achieved a significant milestone on our road to Tesla Roadster production. Our first Validation Prototype was assembled at the Hethel facility in the U.K. and was recently airlifted to our San Carlos, Calif., workshop to commence system testing. VP1 at the Hethel, U.K., facility. The car is riding a little high because the battery pack [...]
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