Latest Updates: toyota RSS

• Mitsubishi To Produce Electric Cars by 2009
  Srikant Rajan 08:07:09 am on October 10, 2008 | 1 | # |
  Tags: detroit big three, electric cars, hybrids, i-miev, mitsubhishi, nissan, plug in, toyota

  Mitsubishi Motors is preparing to launch the worlds first commercial electric car.It anticipates its know how in electric cars to be a “   tremendous advantage     “ and is looking to rival the big  man of electric cars- Toyota,not withstanding its recent troubled finances .Mitsubhishi plans to market its “   I-Miev   ” running entirely on electricity in Japan by 2009.Many Japanese automakers are making some headway into developing hybrid and electric cars.Toyota is already planning to produce a small fleet of plug-in hybrids by 2010 and Nissan is also entering into this domain.

  Detroit “   Big Three   “ never had it so bad,a fumbling economy leading to a drop in car sales, and now the Japanese trying to capitalize on this period to strengthen their own capabilities.

   

• Marine Transport Goes Solar
  Srikant Rajan 04:47:02 pm on September 6, 2008 | 2 | # |
  Tags: marine transport, solar cells, solar energy, toyota

  In a distinct departure from solar energy’s historical use a Japanese based firm is planning to use solar power to propel a ship.This project would involve equipping a freighter capable of carrying 6400 automobiles with a mind boggling 328 solar panel.This ambitious project is estimated to cost $1.3 million and  would be used by Toyota Motor Corp for transporting vehicles.

  This is a bold attempt that would help in gauging potential roadblocks in commercialization of solar panels.The conditions in water would are different from land based utilities particularly on account of rapid shakes and thrusts due to ship motion.Thus use of solar panels in such conditions may allow for designing shock resistant and durable solar panels.However there wont be any solar powers ships in the sea soon as this system is expected to contribute just .2% of the ship propulsion power.Additionally due to a low power capacity there wouldn’t be any major impact on the carbon emission front too.

   

• Hybrid Cars And Solar Power
  Srikant Rajan 04:25:04 pm on July 7, 2008 | 0 | # |
  Tags: electric cars, Hybrid, prius, solar energy, toyota

  Toyota is planning to add a solar edge to its best selling hybrid car - the Prius. These panels supplied by Kyocera Corp would power part of air-conditioning in some of the high end gasoline versions of Prius.

  This latest move by Toyota comes at a time when it is facing an unprecedented demand for Prius and is unable to leverage its management expertise to jack up its production capability. Solar power is expensive and not a likely candidate for powering a hybrid car which already is significantly expensive than conventional fossil fuel powered vehicle. Additionally solar energy becomes feasible in large scale power generation, when spread over a couple of acres. As Kentaro Endo renewable energy specialist and director at Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry says “ Even if you laid solar panels out on the entire roof of a house, you only generate enough energy to run two hair dryers. ” This seems more like a PR exercise to placate disgruntled prius aspirants so that Toyota can buy some time to figure a way out to get more hybrids out and fast.

   

   

• Not Enough Hybrid Cars for All !
  Srikant Rajan 02:38:52 pm on July 7, 2008 | 1 | # |
  Tags: electric cars, Hybrid, prius, toyota

  People just can’t seem to get enough of Toyotas Prius model. Toyota had initially anticipated the spike in crude oil prices . It hence worked to establish a greener and cost competitive alternative(hybrid cars) to conventional cars. This perhaps enabled it to emerge as the virtual leader in the hybrid car segment. The trouble it seems now is that it can’t provide enough Prius as its supply and manufacturing capacity is woefully inadequate to cater to the rapid increase in demand. George Ramirez, sales manager at the Toyota dealership in Salinas, California, says customers are waiting between six weeks and four months for the cars. Adds Ramirez “ The demand is very high ”.

  The devil behind the limited supply capacity of hybrids is the batteries used in hybrid cars, in addition to components such as regulators and transaxles. This despite Toyota’s plans to jack up batteries production by engaging in an association with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Toyota often cited as a management expert itself admits to “ bottlenecks ” in production of batteries.

   

• Ford Wants US Assistance on Hybrids
  Srikant Rajan 11:22:54 am on June 16, 2008 | 0 | # |
  Tags: Department Of Energy, ford, gm, Hybrid, nissan, toyota

  Ford Motors  is still struggling to get its hybrid car out in the market.It has recently called for direct intervention of of the US government to help boost market for plug in electric vehicles.Mark Fields, head of Ford’s Americas business, says that government should be a “key partner in promoting American manufacturing” of plug-in cars and the lithium-ion batteries that power them through tax incentives, research subsidies and other measures".

  Ford does seem to be making some headway in its hybrid technology,it has recently begin road testing of its Escape model and also entered in an agreement for testing of other hybrid models with the US DOE and Southern California Edison.However unlike car makers like GM,Toyota and Nissan  who plan to have hybrids on road by 2010 ,Ford Motors is yet to finalize a date for commercial launch of its hybrid variants.

   

• Toyota to Boost Production of Electric Car Batteries
  Srikant Rajan 02:45:54 pm on June 12, 2008 | 4 | # |
  Tags: electric cars, honda, lithium ion, metal hydride, mitsubhishi, nissan, prius, toyota

  Toyota , of Pirius fame has set ambitious targets for sale of its new improved variant.Toyota anticipates global annual sales of a million electric cars post 2010.It is presently engaged in a battery venture with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co for production of nickel metal hydride batteries.Additionally Toyota is also planning to increase production of the lithium ion batteries by 2010. President Katsuaki Watanabe of Toyota says  ” We plan to use both nickel-metal hydride and lithium-ion batteries, choosing the appropriate option depending on the vehicle “.

  Companies like Nissan, Mitsubhishi, are also engaged in several partnerships to boost production of lithium-ion batteries.The supply of batteries presents the biggest bottleneck for the production of hybrid cars at present.Alternatives like ultracapacitors and fuel cells have not found much favor with car-makers barring Honda,which has replaced a battery in its FCX clarity by an ultracapacitors.