Prius
”Aftermarket Plug-In Prius Battery Causes Balls of Fire, Explosion
A Toyota Prius outfitted with one of Lithium Technology Corporation's plug-in conversion kits exploded after the owner saw balls of fire in the backseat. Luckily the owner was smart enough to vacate the cars after seeing flames, but not smart enough to not drive the car even when its PHEV15 plug-in kit was experiencing "charger-related problems." Other than the fact that you should learn to be careful after installing aftermarket parts on your car, the only other thing we can take away from this story is to jump out of your vehicle when you see fire. [CRN via Daily Tech via Jalopnik]Used Cars Are More Eco-Friendly Than Hybrids?
Here's a simple, compelling argument we read in Wired that shows a used car may be a more ecologically sound choice than a new Prius:
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These Prius Solar Panels Should Come Standard
While the Prius is more practical than high efficiency solar vehicles, why not add some solar to the Prius anyway? This solar kit from SEV seamlessly installs onto a Prius' roof and claims to add up to 20 miles per day of electric mode driving/increase fuel economy up to 29%. Compatible with Prius models from 2004-06, I'm enough of a cynic that I figure if the installation worked that well, the panels would have come standard in the first place (though we've heard that they are under consideration for next gen models). Then again, the 2-3 year "break even" scenario that SEV pitches on their website may have something to do with it. [SEV via Jalopnik]Next Generation Prius Hybrid Is Bigger, More Powerful, With More MPG
AutoObserver reports that the next generation Prius will be four inches longer, get a more powerful 1.8 liter gas engine that when combined with electrics will do a total 160 horsepower (compared with 110hp in the current 1.5 liter setup). The kicker is that it'll be more fuel efficient, too. Using Japan's metrics for fuel economy, the current setup gets 84kpg, but the next gen has been reported to run 94 kilometers under the same conditions. The car is set to be unveiled in 2009. [AutoObserver, photo above of the Prius Concept, not the next gen model, thanks Mona for realizing the KPG and MPG differences.]
Hymotion Prius Plug-in Conversion Kit Gives 100+ MPG For Short Distances
Like the previously released EDrive kit, this Hymotion Prius conversion package lets you convert your stock Prius into one that can be plugged in for charging. After a 4.5-hour charge time, your Prius will be able to use more battery power over about 30-40 miles in order achieve that mileage.
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What Car Nuts Really Think of the Prius Hybrid Electric
The Prius is widely recognized as a technological marvel, with its regenerative braking, its hybrid electric motor setup, and the supercar-low drag coefficient of 0.26. Which is why it's sobering to geeks and treehuggers to watch Top Gear describe the Prius as so slow that "a child could run into the street, retrieve his ball, and grow to puberty, before the Prius could hit him." And at a tested 45mpg, it's actually less green than a diesel. More »100 California Households Get to Test Drive Plug-In Priuses
While they're not getting behind the wheel of the 2009 plug-in Toyota Prius Popular Mechanics took for a spin, 100 households in Northern California are going to put rubber to asphalt next year in the first large-scale consumer test of plug-in hybrids in the country. The 100 green guinea pigs will be picked from the 4 million members of AAA of Northern California next spring and will rotate between a fleet of 10 converted Priuses loaned out for two-month intervals.
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plug and chug
2009 Toyota Prius Prototype Plugs In, But NiMh Batteries Stick Around
Popular Mechanics took a prototype plug-in 2009 Prius for a short test drive, which might be the first PHEV to market. The Prius they ran around still uses the Prius's current nickel-metal hydride battery packs—a pair, actually, with the charging system jimmied in between them—though Toyota hopes to switch to lithium ion, which are more efficient and smaller (thankfully, since the jiggered NiMh packs leave only two medium suitcases worth of trunk space). More »
for shame
Woz Pulled over Doing 104mph in His Prius
Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak knows how to get his name in the news. First there was the rumor of his extraordinarily creepy romance with
hippies
Make Your Hybrid a Hybrid-Hybrid with Solar Power
You're socially conscious. You drive a Prius, and you love that feeling of self-worth that it gives you. You especially love knowing that everyone else on the road knows how socially conscious you are. Well, now that hybrids like the Prius are getting more popular, it's increasingly difficult to stand out as better than everyone else. It's time to step it up a notch. More »
mac mini
Top 5 Creative Uses for a Mac mini, Sort Of
TechEBlog's editors have put together a list of the top five creative uses for the somewhat underexposed Mac mini. While I suppose they're all creative, one of them is pretty useless, so it'd probably be more apt to call it the top four creative uses for the Mac Mini, since the word "use" implies that it has some sort of purpose. More »Hitachi Prius One Type S: iMac Clone, Sorta
Hey, somebody tell Hitachi that the name Prius is already taken. Oh, this is different, the Hitachi Prius One Type S, which is Japan's all-in-one PC answer to the iMac. It's comparably equipped, too, with 512MB of RAM, a 1.83GHz Intel Celeron M 380 processor, and that built-in 17 inch LCD running at 1280x1024. But it doesn't run the Mac OS, so don't be worried that it's actually a clone as the title of this post implies. More »
gadgets
Competition Winner: 3145 Miles Per Gallon
We like to ooo and ahh over gadget-y cars like the Honda Civic Hybrid and Toyota Prius, especially when rumors swirl about turbocharged engines getting 100 miles per gallon. But then we saw this winner of the SAE Super Mileage Competition, a car which racked up a jaw-dropping 3145 miles per gallon. This is a particularly amazing feat, because it's nearly twice as efficient as its predecessor: the same Canadian team won the competition last year with a 1600mpg car. More »
gadgets
Plug-In Prius Forthcoming?
We like to keep up with the Toyota Prius since, after all, it is just one big gadget, and now the titans at Toyota are hinting that they might reverse their stance on building a Prius with a plug-in option. Lots of tinkerers such as EnergyCS of California are already modifying the hybrid car to also accept power via electric outlets—bragging of doubling its mileage in so doing—and Toyota is apparently aware of it, saying that it will join the fun by starting to "advance its research and development of plug-in hybrid vehicles." More »
gadgets
Next Prius: 100MPG, Turbocharged?
We're not really gearheads or grease monkeys, but our Gawker brothers at Jalopnik convinced us to tell you about the next Toyota Prius, since we all know that it's really just one big gadget. Anyway, they're telling us the next Prius might be a firebreather, where its 1.8-liter engine could be turbocharged. Meanwhile, its hybrid system will get more-efficient lithium ion batteries, and all this adds up to mileage that is said to be over 100 miles per gallon. More »
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