British Army Recruits 50 Toyota Prius Hybrids

Even though it would have been rather cool to see an army of Priuses in military camouflage, the fleet of 50 Toyota hybrids obtained by the British Army are to used for administrative purposes. They belong to the army's so-called "White Fleet", branch of Headquarters Land Forces that manages the army's 6,600 non-deployable administrative vehicles. The fleet of the fifty second-generation Prius Hybrid replaces 50 Vauxhall Vectras. The army's goal is to drive down CO2 emissions of its non-operational cars.

Honda Insight Hybrid Outselling Toyota Prius in the UK

Honda's all-new Insight hybrid is off to good start in Britain having sold 229 units since it went on sale in the market on April 4, 2009. That's compared to 198 units of the current generation Prius - always according to Honda's data. Besides the fact that the Insight is a newer model than the Prius (the third-gen Prius will be arriving on British shores in July 2009), another benefiting factor for Honda's hybrid is that it is priced significantly lower than Toyota's hybrid.

In the UK, the Honda Insight starts from £15,490 (US$22,900) on-the-road whereas the second-generation Prius begins from £18,370 (US$27,100). The Japanese automaker said that it expects to sell around 7,000 Insights in the UK this year while the annual global sales target is in the region of 200,000 units.

Rumorville: Toyota Readying Sporty Prius GT?

According to the Japanese grapevine, Toyota is developing a sporty, or rather a sportier, version of the new 2010 Prius Hybrid that will initially be available in the Land of the Rising Sun beginning from next year. Provided that the information is true, it remains to be seen if the so-called Prius GT will feature any mechanical and electronic upgrades or if Toyota will be content with a bodykit and maybe a lowered sport suspension as seen in the computer generated image above that was created by the folks over at Japan's Best Car magazine.

The CGI depicts the Toyota Prius GT with a more aggressively designed front bumper that features larger air vents and a lip spoiler along with side skirts and a set of multispoke alloy wheels wrapped in chunkier, low profile tires.

Via: Best Car

2010 Toyota Prius Priced from $21,000 to $27,270 in the U.S.

The all-new 2010 Toyota Prius will go on sale in the U.S. in late May carrying a base sticker price of $22,000 (plus $750 for delivery and handling), or the same exact price as the entry-level version of the outgoing 2009MY Prius. However, Toyota announced that later in the year, it will launch a stripped-down base model of the Prius that will be priced even lower, at $21,000 MSRP. The Japanese automaker did not disclose details on the basic version's standard equipment.

The third-generation model of Toyota's popular hybrid car will be available with a total of five trim levels, the most expensive being the so-called 'V' spec model at $27,270 MSRP. For more details on the 2010 Prius plus a huge gallery with more than 100 high-resolution photos, click here.

	Standard Equipment	MSRP
Prius I	To be released at a later date	$21,000
Prius II	1.8-liter Atkinson cycle engine	$22,000
	P195/65 R15 all-season tires with alloy wheels & covers
	Smart Key (driver's door) and Push Button start
	EV, Eco, and Power modes
	Multi-Informational Display with energy monitor and fuel consumption history
	AM/FM/MP3 CD player with six speakers and satellite radio capability and auxiliary audio jack
	Cruise control
	STAR Safety System and active front headrest
	Seven airbags including driver knee airbag
	Four-wheel disc brakes
	Tilt/telescopic steering wheel with audio and HVAC
	Controls with Touch Tracer Display
	Six-way adjustable driver seat
	Auto up/down on all windows
	Color-keyed foldable power heated side mirrors
Prius III	In addition to Prius II features:	$23,000
	JBL AM/FM/MP3 six-disc CD changer with eight speakers
	Integrated satellite radio capability
	Hands-free phone capability via Bluetooth® wireless technology
Prius IV	In addition to Prius III features:	$25,800
	Three-door Smart Key system
	Leather-trimmed interior
	Heated front seats with driver lumbar support
	Driver and front passenger water repellant windows
	Plasmacluster™ ionizer
	Auto dimming mirror with HomeLink®
Prius V	In addition to Prius IV features:	$27,270
	17-inch alloy wheels and P215/45 R17 tires
	LED headlamps with auto leveling and washers
	Integrated foglamps

Toyota Prius Minivan Proposal Makes Total Sense

If there was ever a totally plausible speculative rendering, then this is it. Created by the CGI-loving crew from Japan's Best Car magazine, this computer generated image depicts a proposal for a Toyota Prius Minivan (MPV) based on the latest generation of the automaker's family-sized hybrid model. Although Toyota has not announced any plans for a new variant of the Prius, it's no secret that the Japanese firm wants to extend its lineup of hybrid vehicles in the very near future.

Creating a minivan version of the Prius would make plenty of sense as due to its size, it could find a place in the car maker on both sides of the Atlantic as well as in Japan. What do you think?

Pic Via: Best Car

Ten Design Proposals for a Futuristic Toyota Prius

While fooling around on IED's (Istituto Europeo di Design) official website we stumbled upon an interesting project with ten proposals for the Toyota Prius of the no so far-away future created by the students of the Transportation Design Course of IED Turin in 2007. Even though the students were supposed to design the Prius of 2010-2015, the resulting hybrid vehicles look more like the Prius of 2035, but then again, artistic minds do have the tendency to drift away in time...

Source: IED

Toyota's 2011 Low-Cost Dedicated Hybrid to be Based on the Yaris

A news report has shed light on Toyota's plans to develop a dedicated small hybrid model to take on Honda's Insight hybrid that just went on sale in the USA. Speaking with Japan's Nikkei business newspaper Akihiko Otsuka, chief engineer of the third-generation Toyota Prius, revealed that Toyota's new low-cost dedicated hybrid will be based on the Yaris platform. The reason why Toyota is planning such a model, is because Honda's Insight significantly undercuts the new Prius in price.

"We are developing a low-priced hybrid vehicle like Honda's Insight," Otsuka told the newspaper. "We are going to compete by expanding our hybrid-vehicle lineup to smaller hybrids, in the class of the Vitz and Yaris."

Even though Otsuka did not reveal details on the launch date, reports from Japan suggest that the small hybrid could find its way into international markets as soon as 2011.

Via: Autonews & Nikkei

Toyota to Lease 100 Next-Generation Plug-in Hybrids in France, USA and Japan to Follow

French energy giant EDF and Japanese carmaker Toyota today announced a new programme for a large-scale trial of Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles (PHV) in Strasbourg, France. According to the Japanese automaker, about one hundred units of a next generation PHV equipped with lithium-ion batteries will be leased to selected companies and partners in the Strasbourg area starting from the end of 2009, for a duration of three years. Toyota did not reveal details on the type of vehicle, but it is rumored to be based on the 2010 Prius.

The programme is part of a global Toyota project that will also be deployed in Japan as well as in the USA from the end of 2009. The firm's main objective with this project is to objective is to investigate and further evaluate the technology and performance of Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles in real life conditions.

EDF and Toyota began European road trials of Plug-in Hybrid Prius Vehicles in France in the autumn of 2007 expanding the programme to the UK in 2008.

Toyota Rumored to Develop New Low-Price Hybrid to Compete with Honda Insight

With the new 2010 Honda Insight hybrid already undercutting the current generation Prius in price, it's a no-brainer that Toyota execs are starting to worry that Honda's hybrid proposal will have a serious advantage over the next-generation 2010 Prius as the latter will carry an even higher sticker. According to Japan's Nikkei Business daily, Toyota is planning to confront this problem with the introduction of a new, low-price, hybrid subcompact model that could find its way to overseas markets.

Although Toyota declined to comment on the report, Nikkei claims that the new gasoline-hybrid car will use many modified parts from the Prius with power coming from a smaller engine than the current model's 1.5-liter unit. The new model, that could hit the market as early as 2011, will reportedly cost 20 to 30 percent cheaper than the current Prius hybrid, which starts at 2.33 million yen ($23,500 with today's exchange rates).

The Honda Insight, that went on sale in Japan this February, has a starting price of just 1.89 million Yen, or with the current exchange rates, $19,200. In the U.S., the Insight will be priced from $19,800 (see details here).

Source: Nikkei Business (Sub. Req)

Faux Nissan Advert Pits Toyota Prius against Hyundai Elantra Owner

Though not a real commercial, we really enjoyed watching this faux Nissan Sentra advert from The Midnight Show at UCB (Upright Citizens Brigade theater). Written by James Adomian, the ad pits a Toyota Prius hybrid owner against his neighbor who just bought a Hyundai Elantra. The owners' quarrel over who got the best car / deal ends up with a hilarious driveway shooting. Hit the jump to watch the commercial.

Via: TheTruthAboutCars

Toyota Launches Certified Used Vehicle Program for Hybrid Models

In an attempt to draw the attention of buyers searching for used hybrids, Toyota USA has created a new used-vehicle certification program for the brand's hybrid models like the Prius, Camry and Highlander. On top of Toyota Certified's 160-point quality assurance inspection, the extras for the hybrid program include 14 additional points that include the hybrid vehicle electronic control unit and the hybrid vehicle battery.

Furthermore, in addition to the usual warranties, the Japanese automaker said that the certified used hybrids come with a new-vehicle factory hybrid battery warranty of eight years or 100,000 miles - and more in certain states.

Link: Toyota Certified Hybrids