Toyota to launch six new hybrid cars

**4me2** · 14th September 2010

Toyota to launch six new hybrid cars

Toyota's Prius hybrid has been a success in Japan where it has been the best-selling car since May 2009

Toyota plans to launch six new hybrid vehicles by the end of 2012, a company spokesman has said, as competition to build greener cars increases.
The increase will take Toyota's total number of hybrid models to 20.
The Wall Street Journal reported that two would be luxury brand Lexus models and four would be Toyota vehicles.
Rival Nissan's Leaf electric car is due in the US and Japan later this year, and Honda is to start selling electric cars in those markets in 2012.
As well as the new hybrid models, which run on petrol and electricity, Toyota will also unveil a fully electric version of its RAV4 sports utility vehicle later this year, the spokesman said.
The model, developed with its US partner Tesla, will be revealed at the Los Angeles auto show in late November.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11294271

**SiE** · 14th September 2010

Boring Toyota. What the public really wants is a return of the Supra.

I used to love Toyotas years ago but they have become a really crappy car manufacturer who offer a really dull range of cars that are simply not as good as they used to be.

**ant3b** · 14th September 2010

Yep Supra was the daddy.. and the old celica gt4

**beansontoast** · 14th September 2010

Despite the recent problems Toyota are reliable, trust me I know their testing requirements are strict. The styling is really poor though, with the possible exception of the auris.

The thing that bugs me is how many prius(es)(')('s)(whatever the plural is) do you see being given a thrashing? I see loads. So why have these sort of drivers bought the prius? Probably something to do with the benefit in kind company car thing.

The other thing that gets my goat is how can they be justified on efficiency, when you can get a decent 60+ MPG turbo diesel from most manufacturers that makes the prius (etc.) make no sense at all.

**tronads** · 14th September 2010

Its a fair point...it should be full electric, or at least run mainly on electric with an alternative power source as a last resort.
I quite fance a Nissan Leaf as a family hatch.

**Brydo666** · 14th September 2010

Having owned a number of VAG cars over the past 8 years I made the change to a Toyota Auris this year and have been more than happy with it. Saying that, it's a 2.0 D-4D - none of this Hybrid shite.

A couple of folk in my work have the Prius and think it's great... maybe if you come from a history of mid-range petrols, but when you are used to a return of 50MPG for the past 6 years from Turbo Diesel cars... the realistic Hybrid figures aren't that appealing.

**Over Carl** · 14th September 2010

Originally Posted by beansontoast

The other thing that gets my goat is how can they be justified on efficiency, when you can get a decent 60+ MPG turbo diesel from most manufacturers that makes the prius (etc.) make no sense at all.

Also consider how horribly polluting the batteries are. I suspect due to the high cost of battery replacement, they won't last anywhere near as long as traditional cars, so if we then factor in the energy cost of creating the vehicle just to be used for a relatively short period.

But at the end of the day, someone said it's green......

**RUDE BOI** · 14th September 2010

Yeah, would love to see a new Supra.
I'm interested in what Mazda do next, the rx8 has been ceased (failed stupid new eu emissions laws) so the rx9 can't be too far away - and hopefully will be a proper no compromise sports car like the 7.

**beansontoast** · 14th September 2010

eBoost is the new thing that will make the most noticeable difference. Regenerative braking stores energy, then this is made available when you pull away = loads of torque available almost instantly, huge urban fuel savings.

Now without going into any detail I do know about some things in the pipeline. I did read something the other week & the author had written about how the first cars were based on horse carts - "horseless carriages", and that for our transition to newer fuel sources the cars will at first be designed to look like our current cars. In the future we will be travelling around in cars that look radically different to what we're used to now. Believe me there are some strange designs out there.

**DJ OD** · 15th September 2010

Prius...

FKin hate them with a passion. Second worst car on my list of cars I hate... After nissan micras.

DJ OD

**TwoPlAnKs** · 17th September 2010

I think Priuses are really pointless. If you want to sacrifice a bit to be green, get a Polo Bluemotion which has free road tax and a standard diesel engine, 75mpg. If you don't want to sacrifice, get a Golf TDI, 50mpg. Both more economical to run and cheaper to buy and more green without polluting batteries. The Prius barely even gets 40mpg FFS.

Hybrid in general seems like a horrible botch to me. Maybe OK if you are using them in start/stop traffic a lot, but otherwise they add so much more mechanics to the car for no real advantage over turbo diesel. They can be standard powerful cars with free London congestion charging though which might inspire people to buy them without any intention of even thinking about the hybrid functions.

**Simate** · 23rd September 2010

Originally Posted by Over carl

Also consider how horribly polluting the batteries are. I suspect due to the high cost of battery replacement, they won't last anywhere near as long as traditional cars, so if we then factor in the energy cost of creating the vehicle just to be used for a relatively short period.

But at the end of the day, someone said it's green......

I read a few days ago that the Prius battery will last at least 180,000 miles. A test car in the US achieved 243,000 and was still fine.

I was umming and arring about getting a Prius T Spirit but I can't get the small car TD option out of my head which gives more mpg. I think the attraction of the Prius T Spirit for me was it's something different and has lots of toys!

**djm2k1** · 1st October 2010

I've had an Aygo for about 3 months (first car, wanted something small but NOT a smart car

) and I love it. Looked at the "sister" cars: Citreon C1 and Peugeot 107 and I think I made the right choice. 5 yr warranty and personally I think it's the best looking of the three. That and the fact that most common parts of the 3 are Toyota branded

It is really nippy at times (despite it being only 1.0) and I love the fact that it's 20 quid road tax. In fact, I don't think I could have made a better choice for a new first car. I'm on a purchase hire agreement and assuming there's nothing earth shattering in the next few years, I look forward to updating it with another Toyota (so I read this thread with interest!).

**Brydo666** · 1st October 2010

Originally Posted by djm2k1

I've had an Aygo for about 3 months (first car, wanted something small but NOT a smart car

) and I love it. Looked at the "sister" cars: Citreon C1 and Peugeot 107 and I think I made the right choice. 5 yr warranty and personally I think it's the best looking of the three. That and the fact that most common parts of the 3 are Toyota branded

It is really nippy at times (despite it being only 1.0) and I love the fact that it's 20 quid road tax. In fact, I don't think I could have made a better choice for a new first car. I'm on a purchase hire agreement and assuming there's nothing earth shattering in the next few years, I look forward to updating it with another Toyota (so I read this thread with interest!).

The Aygo courtesy car I had, had the same stalks as my Auris - which are also used on the Lexus IS220D. My steering wheel and dials are also the same/similar to the Lexus model.