I saw the 100 MPG Toyota Prius - Plug-in Hybrid Conversion in SF. What can I say? It’s a Toyota. It’s a Prius. It’s a hybrid. It goes a long long way on at tank of gas. Our local cheap gas stand is selling at $1.99/gal. One hundred miles for $2.00.

My first car was a 1960 VW Beetle. It got about 20 mpg or so and I paid about 30 cents for a gallon of gas. If my math is right, then my VW Bug in 1972 went about as far on $2 as this Toyota does 36 years later. And we wonder why Toyota is making money hand over fist while GM and Ford and Chrysler have their hands out.

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe free for our updates via RSS feed. Thanks for visiting and please do come back!

I got to attend the 51st Annual Auto Show in San Francisco. I went for the intent of seeing what’s going on in the green world. Being in Northern California, I expected to see a whole lot more than I did. Still, I saw some. Some pics will follow in subsequent posts, including a $455,000 Porsche.

Here I discovered the reason why Toyota expects its version of the Fuel Cell vehicle to not only have zero emissions but also to get really really good mileage.

Take a look and see if you can figure out why, too.

TogetherGreen is an Audubon program funded by Toyota, that aims at helping people get involved in creating a brighter, healthier future. It’s a program that provides inspiration, leadership and opportunities that will make people aware and will persuade them to take action at home, in their communities and beyond to improve the health of our environment.

Sample projects that received funding include:

1. Engaging low-income students in middle schools to devise and implement energy saving plans (Denver, CO);
2. Constructing gardens to stem storm water overflows that carry pollutants and disease-laden sewage into homes and waterways (Pittsburgh, PA);
3. Involving the public in hands-on strategies for restoring vanishing wetlands vital to flood control (coastal Louisiana); and
4. Reducing bird fatalities caused by their attraction to the lights in high-rise buildings (Minneapolis, MN).

“Our biggest environmental problems can’t be solved unless we engage people from every ethnic, racial and economic community that makes up America and help them realize their power to make a difference in their own communities,” said Audubon President John Flicker. “These TogetherGreen Innovation Grants help local groups to engage people and to start achieving tangible conservation results at the same time”

Launched in the spring of 2008, a total of 41 projects in 24 states were selected from nationwide applicants to receive up to $1.4 million in TogetherGreen Conservation Innovation Grants, for the next five years the project will run. Many of them target inner-city and non-English speaking audiences that always seemed underserved by the environmental community.

For more info check out the press release

The new eco-friendly Toyota IQ is all ready to be launched in the UK in January 2009 and will be priced at £9,495 . It has a low carbon emission of 99g/km and a combined fuel economy of 65.7mpg for the 1.0 VVT-I with manual transmission. Although it isn’t a large car it is easy to maneuver and does not have to go through the ordeals of parking at a parking lot.

The car is available in two models, the IQ1, which is a city segment car, and the IQ2, which is a premium model. In spite of their differences both are luxurious cars and have a range of features to offer. These distinct features include climate controlled air conditioning, push button start, automatic headlights and vipers, an auto dimming rear view mirror, Electronic Break force Distribution and nine airbags for a 360 degrees protection.

All these would make the Toyota IQ an envy to the other car makers. Its exceptional craftsmanship and the latest technology that goes in to making this unique car will give its rival a run for its money. Like it?

Images copyright of 1, 2, 3, 4-5-6

Honda Motor Co’s subcompact Fit is the best seller in Japan for the April-September period. Next in line were Toyota Motor Corp’s Corolla and Vitz models. With Japan paying well over $6/gallon for gas and the mini-cars being the best sellers in the land, it stands to reason that two of Japan’s big three would have the best selling mini-cars in the land of the Rising Sun.

Honda’s Fit has been the best seller for 11 consecutive months says the Japan Automobile Dealers Association. The big news, of course, is that Honda is outdoing Toyota when Toyota is king, queen, prince, princess, gosh, the whole court.

We have two Hondas and a Toyota at our house and I am test driving a Suzuki this week. Yeah, at the Belew’s it’s all about which Japanese car is best. How about your household?

Toyota is doing its part to make a mint, um, decrease the impact that its cars have on the world’s fossil fuel resources. By 2010 the automaker wants 1/10th of its sales to be hybrid vehicles. Toyota had not set a target date to reach one million units until now. Presently, the car maker sells 450,000 hybrids a year and wants to more than double that figure within two years.

A fully redesigned Prius hybrid is expected out next spring as well as a second hybrid vehicle. Toyota not only wants to keep its lead in the hybrid market, but expand it.

Toyota not only wants to win, but win big.

Class, what is the biggest single-roof solar installation in North-America? “Toyota’s” everyone says out loud.

The Japanese from Toyota decided they need to be greener so they installed 242,000 sqf of solar panels above their North America Parts Center California (NAPCC) manufacturing plant. That’s a lot of roof that’s going to get the sun’s energy and make electricity out of it. Not sure if you’re familiar with the figures, but the 10,417 solar modules that SunPower installed, have a total capacity of 2.3 megawatts, will cover for 60% of the factory’s energy needs and is expected to avoid some 6.4 million pounds of CO2 emissions per year.

I’m curious though. Who’ll wash the roof from now on, because to ensure maximum power it has to stay clean. And that thing is bigger than 4 football fields …

In their press release, Toyota said:

“NAPCC electricity costs per kilowatt-hour have increased 266 percent since 1992. Facility energy conservation efforts have reduced electricity usage by 28.5 percent during the past five years, but annual electricity use still remains over 5,788,000 kilowatt-hours.

The system was designed and built by SunPower, using its high-efficiency panels that deliver 50 percent more power per unit than conventional panels. A lightweight state-of-the-art SunPower mounting system further maximizes power delivery.”

They sure have a great deal here, but my concern is .. who’ll break that “record” in North America and who? Place your bets!

via TreeHugger

Toyota launched the HEYA Project in August 2007 for the purpose of inspiring innovative young adults to share and collaborate on ideas related to automobiles, design, the environment, technology, film, music and more.

They want to hear your vision for the future of transportation and make it come to life offering the platform to voice your opinion, work together on innovative new projects, and submit your personal projects for support and funding.

Together with the Quiksilver siteLA project, Toyota is currently searching for modern ideas surrounding the future of transportation in its program, “From Here to There: A HEYA Project.” From now through July 31, HEYA members can register at heya.toyota.com and upload their creative concepts of how to advance the future of transportation.

HEYA is the Japanese word for “room” and Toyota has opened the door to an online space where creative people can connect, communicate and collaborate on projects with each other and with Toyota.

Creators of the winning ideas will partner with a siteLA visionary who will build and expand upon the concepts for display in the opening night exhibit. The winners will be flown to Los Angeles for the final installation and grand opening of the event display.

Would you like to be one of the happy winners? Take a shot and let us know about it.

Check out the press release below for more info. (more…)

Kansai Electric Power C0 will work in cahoots with three other companies to develop a ‘trigeneration system’ that can produce electric power and also utilize waste heat and CO2 emissions, all to improve farming productivity.

Toyota Turbine and Systems Inc. (yeah, they are related to that Toyota) will design a small gas turbine that can burn liquified natural gas to generate electricity. (And you thought Toyota only made economical cars, didn’t you?). Kurabo will come up with the technology to denitrate exhaust gas, and Globally-Tech co will provide the control technologies.

Kanasai Electric has a giant flower field in Rokkasho, Aomori, northern Japan, where it is experimenting with flower cultivation. Within two years the company hopes to also use the heat and CO2 extracted from the exhaust gas to create an optimal environment for photosynthesis. How cool is that?

John McCain wants to save fuel and reduce emissions. (Don’t we all?)  If elected he is willing to earmark $300 million to encourage innovation on a new car battery. I wonder if he couldn’t just buy the technology from Toyota for about half that price. That $300 million is equal to everyone in the United States ponying up $1. McCain wants to do better than Toyota’s hybrid technology.

McCain says the battery should have the “size, capacity, cost and power to leapfrog the commercially available plug-in hybrids or electric cars.  My administration will issue a Clean Car Challenge to the automakers of America, in the form of a single and substantial tax credit based on the reduction of carbon emissions. For every automaker who can sell a zero-emissions car, we will commit a 5,000 dollar tax credit for each and every customer who buys that car.“

A $5000 tax credit? Will that go for anyone buying the Honda FCX Clarity? McCain says that if the US can do Thomas Edison, the Wright brothers, Apollo moon landings, silicon chips and the Internet, then surely we can do a zero emission battery.

“For all the troubles and dangers our energy vulnerability presents, we know that we can overcome them, because we have overcome far worse problems and met far greater goals.”

So, what do you think? Does America have what it takes?