Environmentales

I was never surprised upon gazing on their news this early morning. The Toyota Prius had been so blessed being the number one best seller hybrid of the world. Well, take that from Toyota, to world biggest hybrid maker. Just recently, Switzerland hailed the Toyota Prius as the world’s greenest car. Thanks Yahoo for the news early this morning when I was looking for an air mass meter and antenna mast for my old Mercedes car.

After choosing from almost 6,000 different cars in their car market, the Swiss government finally hailed the Toyota Prius as the best hybrid car among them. These cars were noted because of their real time limited CO2 emissions but, as usual, the Toyota Prius outshined them all.

The Federal Office for the Environment’s spokesman, Adrian Aeschlimann, said, “The goal is to modernize the fleet of cars and to make the use of natural resources as efficient as possible, so that using cars will exert less pressure on the environment."

Among the Japanese car brands, the Nissan Patrol GR 3.0 had the lowest rating. The Toyota Prius got the highest score.

Toyota released the first ever mass made hybrid car in 1997. Following the disclosure of the first ever hybrid car on the world’s car market, the Honda Insight. But the Prius sold more cars compared to the latter because of its real time fuel efficiency on a lower cost. So, the hybrid car stayed in the car market for ten long years. Today, Toyota’s entrant is still the best running hybrid car of the world.

Switzerland's NZZ am Sonntag newspaper released the top and bottom 20 hybrid cars on their news today. The Swiss government confirmed this news on Reuters.

Completing the top five list were Fiat's Punto 1.2 Bipower and its Panda 1.2 Bipower, the Daihatsu Cuore and Citroen's C3 1.4i GNV. The bottoms five were filled by Ford's Transit, Ford Transit 4x4, the VW T5 and Peugeot's Boxer. Almost all the cars on the top 10 were small and hybrid cars.

US car market handles half of the Toyota Prius sales. In terms of Greener cars, China and US topped the list. However, the environmentalist around the globe welcomes the Swiss initiatives towards a greener environment.

Germany's environmental group Deutsche Umwelthilfe’s, Juergen Resch, said, "It's great when a national government is behind.”

Toyota is known for its hybrids. The most famous of these fuel misers is the Toyota Prius. It’s so popular that celebrities abandoned their gas-guzzling SUVs and Hummers for this compact car. But the Prius is not the only star in Toyota’s lineup of hybrid cars. The hybrid version of the midsize Camry is also a winner, and that did not come from me guys - that’s the people at Edmunds talking.

You can check out Edmunds and see for yourself why the Camry was adjudged the best midsize hybrid sedan in the world. The Camry Hybrid was pitted against the Altima Hybrid and the Saturn Green Line and the Toyota car came out on top.

Chalk up another score for Toyota. It seems that the Japanese firm has a monopoly on accolades concerning hybrid cars. It’s just a shame that the Big Three cannot come up with cars as good as the Camry Hybrid or a Prius. Well, there’s the Volt, but it’s supposed to be available for car buyers to be beneficial. But General Motors is taking its time in developing the plug in hybrid - or rather an electric car with a range extender as they call it.

The Camry Hybrid edging out the Altima Hybrid and the Aura Green Lien means that Toyota is setting the bar higher for automakers who are thinking about competing with them in any segment as long as hybrids are concerned. I can remember that the Highlander Hybrid also topped a list for the crossover segment.

According to Edmunds, the Camry upstaged both the Altima Hybrid and the Aura Green Line in terms of fuel efficiency. This is, of course, very important because people buy hybrids for fuel efficiency and more importantly, for its environment-friendliness. With the Camry Hybrid returning more miles from a gallon of fuel compared to the Aura Green Line or the Altima Hybrid, it is obvious that the Camry Hybrid is the leader in its segment.

Absent from the contest is the Accord Hybrid. This is, of course, because Honda announced earlier this year that they will no longer be producing the hybrid version of the Accord.

Edmunds’ Inside Line Senior Road Test Editor, Josh Jacquot, has this to say about the Camry Hybrid: “It’s the Camry’s abundant features, comfortable ride and fuel-sipping efficiency that takes it to the top of the podium in this test. The simple fact about the Camry Hybrid is that, like the standard Camry, you get a lot of car for your money.”

The reason why Al Gore III was told to pull over was because he was driving past the maximum speed limit. And the biggest surprise was that he wasn’t driving a Porsche or a Mustang! He was using a Toyota Prius Hybrid! Almost all of us are wondering how on earth did the Prius do such stunning stuff. It’s quite odd but it’s pretty amazing! We have to somehow thank Al Gore III for demonstrating the real performance of the Prius! Now, who said that the Prius or any other hybrid car can’t run that fast? Oh well, every one of you had a change of heart instantly, huh?

Los Angeles Times:

Slate:

“Making this week easier for late-night talk show hosts everywhere, Al Gore III, the son of former Vice President Al Gore, was arrested on Wednesday after police discovered marijuana and prescription drugs in his car. Gore III had been pulled over on the San Diego Freeway for speeding at about 100 mph in his Toyota Prius. Wait a second—can a Prius really go 100 miles per hour?

Toronto Star :

“When I heard Gore's 24-year-old son, Albert Gore III, had been pulled over driving at such a high rate of speed, and that police had allegedly found drugs in the vehicle, I'll bet I had the same reaction you did. Gore's kid was doing 160 kilometers per hour in a hybrid? This bit of news may do more good for the environmental movement than anything Al Gore has done to date."

Isn’t it nice to drive along a clear road with trees on the side… picture perfect. But it’s even nicer if you can enjoy driving without putting the environment at great risks. I’m talking about your gas engines coughing out tons of CO2 which could choke us up! I’m sure Mother Nature wouldn’t like that at all. That’s why the Smart car has returned to bring another eco-friendly vehicle especially dedicated to eco-friendly drivers and to Mother Earth as well!

The Smart car presents the all-new Smart Fortwo Cdi! The comeback of this cute vehicle is pretty much appreciated by the crowd. The Smart Fortwo car promises a fun-filled driving experience with tender loving care for mother earth. The Smart Fortwo only has a fuel consumption of 3.3 liters per 100 kilometers (NEDC) and only 88 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer emissions.

The latest Smart fortwo Cdi is equipped with a highly developed Cdi engine. The engine provides an increase of ten percent on the torque and its thirteen percent lesser on its fuel consumption. To sum it up, the Smart fortwo has an increased power of 33kW/45bhp and a blazing torque of 110 meters between 2,000 and 2,500 rpm. The basic qualities of the Smart Fortwo Cdi are agility, economy and its being environment-friendly.

Check out its standard features:

Functional/electrical equipment
- Automated manual five-speed transmission with kick-down function
- Instrument cluster with multifunctional display
- Digital gear display with gear recommendation
- External temperature indicator with frost warning
- Indicators with lane-changer function
- Windscreen wipers with speed-sensitive interval wiping and wipe/wash function - Heated rear window
- Tank cap integrated in the central locking system
- 12 volt socket on centre console
- Central locking with radio remote control and immobiliser
- Diesel particle filter (open system, closed system from 2008)
- Electric soft top (smart fortwo cabrio)

Interior
- Passenger seat can be fully folded forwards (single hand operation)
- Storage compartment on passenger side, next to steering wheel and in the doors
- Coin holder (smart fortwo coupe)
- Mirror in driver's sun visor
- Storage compartment in tailgate and tridion safety cell
- Crash-absorbing elements at front and rear
- Crash sensor to activate hazard warning lights
- Full-size driver and passenger airbag
- Safety seats with integral seat belts
- Belt tensioner and belt-force limiter
- Drive lock, automatic door locking when the vehicle is in motion
- ESP® - ABS with electronic brake-force distribution
- Hydraulic brake assist

Options:
- tridion safety cell in silver (optional for pulse, standard for passion)
- Panoramic roof made from polycarbonate, with sun blind (optional for pure, standard for the pulse and passion)
- Leather seats including seat heating (optional for pulse and passion)
- Glove compartment, lockable
- Luggage compartment cover including net (standard for passion)
- Smoker's kit
- 3-spoke leather steering wheel with steering wheel gearshift (incl. leather gear knob) (standard for pulse, option for passion)

It can’t be denied that Lexus already has the most far-reaching varieties of hybrid cars in the four corners of the auto market. Lexus, as a company, perceives that technology is an important part when it comes to the line of attack.

It serves as an approach to be able to make a distinction of brands in the luxury segment. And for Lexus, this is considered to be the best method that they could use.

According to the execs of this brand, the usual hybrid buyer’s income level is reasonably far above the ground. The Vice President of Lexus in Europe, Karl Schlicht, put it into plain words that they prefer a full Lexus hybrid line-up.

Basically in Europe, fuel prices are even not a great deal compared here in the US. But then Lexus has been working remarkably and is glowing with its RX 400h hybrid. This scenario motivates and encourages the automaker that going entirely hybrid is not such a dreadful and outrageous decision.

Take for example Spain - almost seven out of every ten cars that are out in the market are all diesel units due to their enhanced cost-cutting measure above petrol cars. But Lexus doesn’t want to be involved anymore with diesel-vehicles for the reason that they will just have good followers rather than more satisfied buyers. At the same time, they see that hybrid technology is more effective than having diesel vehicles.

Schlicht also told that the sensitivity of the community for hybrid technology has to progress and when it happens, it will benefit both dealers and consumers. So as an answer, Lexus is presently working on hybrid models that will take a step to hit the market 2 years from now. This will be the brand’s most reasonably priced hybrid and will be taking over the spot used by the present IS sedan.

This hybrid will be placed between the RX 400h SUV and the IS. It will be at the outset to the European and Japanese markets. And still no news yet has been released whether it will be sold or not here in the US.

The head of Lexus based in UK, Steve Settle, asserted that the hybrid will be a brand-defining technology for them.

Almost three of Lexus’s up to date models have hybrid choices and those vehicles plays a 70% account for Lexus sales solely in UK. So don’t be surprised if the luxury brand is all set to set up a hybrid only model.

All hybrids will soon be accessible to car dealers and they would also be made available online. Car parts like the Mercedes Benz muffler and the Mercedes Benz oil filler cap is also available both in stores and online.