Over the last few years, a war has been brewing between Toyota and battery electric vehicles, particularly those produced by Tesla. Toyota president Akio Toyoda (grandson of the company’s founder) has been openly vocal in his criticism of Tesla and its upstart nature compared to the traditional incumbents. Most recently, though, the rhetoric has taken
Executives at Toyota had a moment of inspiration when the company first developed the Prius. That moment, apparently, has long since passed. The Prius was the world’s first mass-produced hybrid car, years ahead of any competitors. The first model, a small sedan, was classic Toyota—a reliable vehicle tailor-made for commuting. After a major redesign in
Panasonic Corp. sees the future of solar on car rooftops. The Osaka-based electronics maker has started producing a 180-watt array of solar cells that can be fixed to the roof of an automobile. In February, Panasonic announced that its photovoltaic module would be used on the roof of Toyota Motor Corp.’s latest Prius plug-in hybrid.
Plug-in Prius is a technological achievement, but it’s pricey and we wonder if the regular hybrid is better for day-to-day driving Toyota has been making huge strides with its latest Prius, managing to improve both the driving dynamics and fuel efficiency over the car it replaced last year. Now the plug-in hybrid version of the
