2010 Toyota Prius: A good and Safe Car

I found the news in CNN that 2010 Toyota Prius has been announced as a safe car by The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. This is good news for the company. Of course, this is not the only car that has been announced as a safe car in the hybrid category.

CNN reported:

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety announced Thursday that the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight had become the latest hybrid vehicles to get the group's Top Safety Pick award.

It is surely a prestigious thing for Toyota. This is a good time for hybrid cars and most people want to focus on safety. Car insurance companies care for this matter a lot because they have to pay a lot of money in auto insurance every year.

Global Auto Makers in a Race to Produce Zero-Emission Hybrid Car

There is now a race observed among the auto makers to make zero-emission hybrid cars. It is very natural too because the demand for zero-emission hybrid cars, according to experts, is increasing rapidly. Even the demand for such cars might outpace the supply in the market in the next few years. So, naturally auto makers are going after announcing their plans to get into production of hybrid cars which have zero-emission quality.

At the recently held Paris Motor Show, all the global auto makers showed their electricity-run vehicle to the consumers, an attempt to attract the attention of the consumers from now on so that they can capture a broader chunk of share in the hybrid car market. These cars take electric charges from a socket. You can recharge your car both at home as well as in the loading station.

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Plug-in hybrid car users "Be careful"

Now days, there is a new trend of converting hybrids into plug-in hybrids in the USA. Many government officials and political leaders are supporting this move as the price of fuel is hurting people in the USA. However, you have to be careful if you are planning to convert your Toyota Prius or any other hybrid model into plug-in hybrid. Several days ago, a plug-in Toyota Prius went up in flames. The Prius was run by a South Carolina electric cooperative. Later, it was found out that the fire was created by sparks from loose connection in the car’s battery. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

The major advantage of converting a hybrid car into plug-in hybrid is that it increases the car's electric power and the level of oil consumption by the car can further lowered. In case of going long distance, you have to recharge the car from time to time. However, the conversion process of the hybrid is still not modified. Toyota Motor Corporation (TYO: 7203), the maker of the most popular hybrid car, Toyota Prius, declared to release the plug-in version of hybrid in 2010.

Currently, some ‘after-market companies’ are doing this conversion which would cost between $7,000 to more than $20,000. So, if you are planning to convert your favorite hybrid into a plug-in hybrid, just be careful.

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Hybrid Prius, Hydrogen powered car and the new after market kit from A123 Systems

It looks like the auto arena has become a major battle ground of two BIG “H;” Honda’s Hydrogen vs. Toyota’s Hybrid. Who do you think deserve most lime light? If you ask me then my answer will be, I do not know.

By this time, I think all the readers who are reading/not reading this blog, know about the 2009 Honda FCX Clarity, the hydrogen fuel-cell car.

Toyota’s hybrid caught the attention of media after the price of oil started to rise and American people for the first time got the hit of high oil prices. Now, it takes very small time for the Toyota Prius to hit the show room and getting sold. Dealers all over the USA are just observing their Toyota Prius waiting list getting longer day by day. Last month, Toyota Motor Corporation (TYO:7203)) declared that by the end of April it sold about 1,028,000 Prius cars. Now, they have set a target of selling one million vehicles per year after 2010.

Toyota also declared two new hybrid models that will be powered by lithium-ion battery. Masatami Takimoto, Head of R&D, Toyota Motor Corporation, said that one of the new vehicles is going to be a new design and it would be larger than Prius and released under the Lexus Brand in 2010. The other car, a production of version of Toyota’s “iQ microcar”, is a 10 feet long small city car for four passengers.

Battery technology company, A123Systems, has begun selling its new aftermarket kit which can convert the Toyota Prius hybrid into a Plug-in hybrid and increase fuel-efficiency to more than 100 miles per gallon. The kit’s retail cost is under $10,000 and includes installation at select dealerships.

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Samsung SDI Co. Ltd. and Robert Bosch GmbH's lithium-ion battery joint venture

On June 16^th, famous German auto parts maker, Robert Bosch GmbH declared a joint venture project with Samsung SDI Co. Ltd.,(SEO:006400) a subsidiary of South Korea’s conglomerate giant Samsung Group. The joint venture plant is going to produce lithium-ion batteries used in hybrid cars. The joint venture would be known as SB LiMotive Co. Ltd. Based in South Korea, the construction of the plant will start from September 2008. Reuters reports:

The 50:50 joint venture in South Korea is named SB LiMotive and will be launched in September. It will start production in 2010 with initial capital of $20 million, according to a Samsung statement.

A Samsung spokesman said that a minimum of $500 million would be invested in the venture over the next 4-5 years.

Samsung produces lithium-ion batteries for laptops, mobile phones and power tools. The joint venture foundation is subject to antitrust authorities.

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Toyota Motor Corporation and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. declare to build two new battery plants for hybrid cars

On May 27^th, Japan’s top car maker, Toyota Motor Corporation (TYO: 7203) announced to build a third battery plant with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. (TYO:6752) In the face of the rising demand of hybrid vehicles, Toyota decided to increase its battery production. The batteries are used to drive the electric motors in the hybrid vehicles.

Toyota and Matsushita joint venture Panasonic EV Energy Co. will spend $289 million (291 million according to IHT) to build the battery plant which will be situated at Miyagi Prefecture in northern Japan. The company will start its operation by 2010 and it will produce 200,000 units of nickel-metal hydride batteries per year.

On May 23^rd, the two companies announced to build their second battery plant in Shizuoka Prefecture in Tokyo. The plant will cost $194 million. Bloomberg reports:

The new plants will make nickel-hydride batteries to help Toyota meet its goal of selling 1 million hybrid cars including the Prius annually in the early part of next decade. Drivers are opting for cars that use less gasoline after the price of oil has more than doubled in the past year.

``Toyota is way ahead of everyone else in hybrids,'' said Edwin Merner, president of Tokyo-based Atlantis Investment Research Corp., which manages $2 billion in assets. ``Hybrid cars are in short supply and demand is increasing. If they don't exploit this advantage, they may lose market share.''

The factory in Miyagi will start production in 2010 and will be able to make 200,000 batteries annually when it reaches full operation.

Despite high price tag and comparatively lower sales, Toyota Prius is the environmental champion of Toyota and the most sold hybrid car in the USA. Since its inception in 1997 till April 2008, Toyota sold 1.03 million hybrid cars. Of the total sales, North America accounted for 58% and Japan 31%.

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Are all hybrids really money savers?

Although hybrids are the latest craze in the USA in the face of rising fuel cost, they come with higher price tags compared to traditional cars. As a result, you would often end up spending more money after your car than you could save on gasoline. However, some hybrid cars are truly money savers. Currently, there are six hybrid models USA from Ford, General Motors, Toyota and Honda that can save your money. Mlive.com reports:

The good news: Drivers can now choose from six hybrid models from Ford, General Motors, Toyota and Honda that all could earn back their price premiums in less than 10 years. Four of those five can save you enough in gas to offset the higher cost in as few as six years. That figure could climb higher if you considered corporate twins such as the Mercury Mariner for the Ford Escape or the Saturn Aura for the Chevrolet Malibu.

The bad news: Some of the top performers a similar Cleveland Plain Dealer analysis last year fell a few notches. Last year, Honda's Civic hybrid looked as if it would take about three years to earn back its higher cost. In this year's analysis, the Civic takes more than four years.

Currently in the USA, Toyota Camry and Honda Civic makes up the most of the hybrid car sales. For urban drivers, Toyota Prius is better but for suburban drivers Saturn Vue Green as it gives significant boost during highway driving.

So, it looks like buying a hybrid is not going to solve your fuel problems right away. You have to chose carefully from the existing models of hybrids.

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Automotive Energy Supply Corporation (AESC) will spend $115 million for a new lithium-ion battery plant

In a move to catch up with the growing hybrid vehicle and electric vehicle market, Japan’s third largest automobile producer Nissan Motor Company (TYO: 7201) with NEC Corporation (TYO: 6701) announced that their joint venture lithium-ion battery producing company Automotive Energy Supply Corporation will spend $115 million over the next three years in building Nissan’s first battery production line at Nissan’s Zama facility in Kanagawa prefecture. In the beginning, the plant is targeting to produce 13,000 units which will be increased to 65,000 by 2011. The batteries produced will be used in Nissan Motor Company’s hybrid and electric vehicle aimed to be released by 2010. Forbes.com reports:

Nissan (nasdaq: NSANY - news - people ) and NEC (nasdaq: NIPNY - news - people ) last year set up Automotive Energy Supply Corp., a joint venture that aims to capitalise on its parents' technology to develop and produce lithium ion batteries for Nissan and other manufacturers of hybrid, electric and fuel cell vehicles in the world. Nissan holds a 51 percent stake in the venture and NEC jointly owns the rest with its subsidiary NEC Tokin Corp.

NEC Tokin has separately allocated 11.0 billion yen to build over the next three years its own facility within NEC's Sagamihara plant site in Kanagawa to mass-produce lithium-manganese electrodes for the joint venture by 2009.

Last year, Automotive Energy Supply Corporation (AESC) announced its plan to supply batteries for forklift trucks. Nissan is now looking forward to introduce electronic vehicle in Japan, the United States, Israel and Denmarke by 2011. The company will go into mass marketing from 2012. At a news conference, Nissan’s Executive Vice President Carlos Tavares told that Nissan was determined to become a leader in this next shift in global mobility and the advanced battery technology developed by the joint venture was critical to achieve that goal.

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