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Consumer Reports 2009 reliability survey results

Ford has secured its position as the only Detroit automaker with world-class reliability. About 90% of Ford, Mercury, and Lincoln products were found to have average or better reliability, according to Consumer Reports’ 2009 Annual Car Reliability Survey. The results were announced today at an Automotive Press Association luncheon in Detroit. Read the rest of this entry »

2010 Toyota Prius body kit by Tommy Kaira

Without tuning anything on the powertrain of the 2010 Toyota Prius, Japanese tuning firm Tommi Kaira has unveiled its dressed-up version of the third-generation iconic hybrid. Read the rest of this entry »

Honda Insight and Toyota Prius IIHS crash tests

The U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety have crash-tested the new Toyota Prius and the Honda Insight, and both have earned the group’s coveted “Top Safety Pick” award. That means each of the vehicles managed to score the agency’s highest rating of good in front, side, and rear tests and are equipped with electronic stability control, standard on the Prius and optional on the Insight. Read the rest of this entry »

2005-2008 Toyota Prius with faulty HID headlights

The hits just keep on coming for Toyota. First they lose $7.7 billion in 2008. Then they cause controversy back in Japan by planning an “environmentally-friendly” R & D center on top of centuries-old rice fields. And now, just as the launch of its new third-generation Prius draws near, numerous owners of 2005-2008 Toyota Prius hybrids with the optional HID headlights are banding together on online forums, message boards and in possible class-action lawsuits against the automaker due to failing headlamps. Read the rest of this entry »

Plug-in Toyota Prius conversion by PICC

Plug In Conversions Corporation, better known as PICC, has completed a software upgrade to its plug-in conversion kit that will now allow all-electric mode driving at speeds of up to 70 mph in their converted Prius offering. Read the rest of this entry »

Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid coming by 2010

Toyota’s 3rd-generation Prius, already a huge hit in Japan, is enough for the company to ramp up production of the hybrid to pre-recession levels. Now the automaker plans to lease a plug-in version to corporate and municipal customers in Japan by the end of 2009. Read the rest of this entry »

Subaru unveils Stella EV small electric car

Subaru announced the launch of its plug-in Subaru Stella electric vehicle for the Japanese market. The Subaru EV is equipped with a high-performance lithium-ion battery. The model will be sold in Japan directly through Fuji Heavy Industries, Subaru’s parent company. Delivery will start from late July and around 170 units of delivery in total will be planned till March 2010. Read the rest of this entry »

2010 Toyota Prius production ramped up

Toyota is ramping up production of its redesigned 2010 Prius hybrid to meet higher-than-expected demand, according to an AP report. Read the rest of this entry »

Toyota uses Superman to market Prius

Japan, land of everything wacky when it comes to culture, has a new TV commercial on the air-waves. It involves Superman chasing down a 2010 Toyota Prius. Read the rest of this entry »

Toyota Prius Modellista body kits in Japan

If there is one thing that the Japanese love more than their toy cars, it is a body kit, no matter what car they own. Indeed, Toyota is humoring this set by offering up their own kits. Read the rest of this entry »

Toyota Prius EX older model sold in Japan

When it became clear that the Honda Insight was chasing the lower end of the hybrid market, and generated a lot of interest, Toyota got nervous. Their upcoming all-new 3rd-generation Prius was loaded with gadgetry and therefore premium-priced to match. So then Toyota decided to reduce the base price of the upcoming 2010 model, while also still offering a 2nd-generation Prius alongside the new model. Read the rest of this entry »

Top 10 cleanest gasoline and diesel cars

French car magazine, l’Automobile, believes that considering CO2 as the only pollutant to adapt legislation is unfair. Hence the magazine editors came up their own list that includes all pollutants coming from the exhaust pipe. Read the rest of this entry »

2010 Toyota Prius orders reach 75,000

After a disastrous loss of almost $8 billion last year, Toyota has something to be happy about. The 2010 Prius already has 75,000 orders in the books, much more than the 40,000 units that Toyota expected. Read the rest of this entry »

2010 Toyota Prius and Honda Insight go head to head

Hybrid-electric cars continue to evolve with the introduction of the 2010 Toyota Prius and the 2010 Honda Insight at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show. Both are very similar cars, and both come with a petrol engine that supplements itself with self-generated electrical power. Both also offer increasingly impressive fuel consumption figures. Read the rest of this entry »

2010 Toyota Prius gets facelift and improved mpg

The Toyota Prius has become a fashion icon around the world for those who want to appear environmentally-conscious. It was the world’s first mass-produced four-door hybrid, powered by a petrol engine mated to an electric engine that recharged itself through regenerative braking technology. The current generation of the Prius is most recognizable, and Toyota has chosen to keep its existing shape for 2010, while updating some styling, tech and interior details. Read the rest of this entry »

2009 Honda Insight to debut in Paris Auto Show

Honda has revived the Insight nameplate for their latest hybrid, and this time, it comes with four doors to fight hand-to-hand with the Toyota Prius. Read the rest of this entry »