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Hybrid
Advantage: Is Toyota unstoppable?
Thursday,
March 08, 2007
Hybrids
have given Toyota a nice sales boost
Yesterday, I was walking in Pasadena and it seemed
everywhere I looked, I saw a Toyota
Prius. In Southern California the Prius is a very
popular car.
While some critics speak of slowing hybrid sales, the
reality is that hybrid sales are catapulting Toyota past
every other automaker. Yet, the best of hybrid technology
is yet to come.
Still, Toyota is completely dominating the sales of hybrid
vehicles. The Toyota
Camry hybrid alone - Toyota's second best selling
hybrid vehicle - is basically outselling the hybrid
cars of all other automakers combined. And the Prius
continues to post month-after-month of sales records and
has essentially become a mainstream vehicle.
But Toyota isn't resting on its laurels.
This month Toyota announced that its third
generation Prius would be powered by the third
generation Hybrid Synergy Drive, which will not only be
half the weight of the current hybrid drive, but also half
the price of the current hybrid drive. Moreover, the new
hybrid drive will utilize lithium-ion batteries.
Consequently, huge gains in fuel efficiency are expected
with the evolution to the third generation Hybrid Synergy
Drive.
And all this might be just a little more than a year away.
Yet, that isn't even the end.
Take this new Hybrid Synergy Drive and add it to the
design themes of the Hybrid
X concept and Toyota's hybrid dominance could become
almost unbeatable. Moreover, Toyota's third generation
hybrids might do another thing: achieve cost-effectiveness
for average auto consumers.
Of course, then again, maybe gas prices will permanently
drop well below $2.00 per gallon.
Comments
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During Altairnano's conference call presenting year end results a few days ago, it was mentioned Altairnano is in discussions with Toyota over their "NanoSafe" battery technology.
They said the Phoenix Motorcars 3-year exclusive agreement doesn't cover hybrids.
Toyota's clearly covering all bases.