Update - Toyota Denies Delays In Future Hybrid

Toyota says it’s “bemused” by the Wall Street Journal's recent story that the timing for its next generation of the Prius has been pushed back. Rebutting the story, Toyota issued the following statement:

“We've been very interested to note stories in The Wall Street Journal over the past couple of days purporting that the introduction of a next-generation Prius has been delayed because of the slow pace of development of lithium-ion batteries.

--- Read the full statement here.

Air-powered Car?

World's First Air-Powered Car: Zero Emissions by Next Summer

This six-seater tax, which should be available in India next year, is powered entirely by a tank filled with compressed air.

By Matt Sullivan

India’s largest automaker is set to start producing the world’s first commercial air-powered vehicle. The Air Car, developed by ex-Formula One engineer Guy Nègre for Luxembourg-based MDI, uses compressed air, as opposed to the gas-and-oxygen explosions of internal-combustion models, to push its engine’s pistons. Some 6000 zero-emissions Air Cars are scheduled to hit Indian streets in August of 2008.

Barring any last-minute design changes on the way to production, the Air Car should be surprisingly practical. The $12,700 CityCAT, one of a handful of planned Air Car models, can hit 68 mph and has a range of 125 miles. It will take only a few minutes for the CityCAT to refuel at gas stations equipped with custom air compressor units; MDI says it should cost around $2 to fill the car’s carbon-fiber tanks with 340 liters of air at 4350 psi. Drivers also will be able to plug into the electrical grid and use the car’s built-in compressor to refill the tanks in about 4 hours.

Of course, the Air Car will likely never hit American shores, especially considering its all-glue construction. But that doesn’t mean the major automakers can write it off as a bizarre Indian experiment — MDI has signed deals to bring its design to 12 more countries, including Germany, Israel and South Africa.

[Source: Popular Mechanics]

Amazing - 1,562 miles on s single Prius tank!

(originally posted on PriusChat):

Kazu Tochigi achieved 1,562 miles/tank (2,513 km). The computer mileage was 104.2 mpg (44.3 km/L).

Even with the larger tank in the Japanese Prius, this is still an amazing feat.


As noted on PriusChat, this would be the equivalent of going from NYC to Dallas, on a single tank of gas!

--- Oren