Toyota: EV in 2012, 10 new hybrids in early 2010's, fleet plugins late 2009!

'B' is not engine compression braking, it is a mode that drammatically increases regenerative braking which increases drag on the wheels and aids the physical brakes to stop the car.

 

Yep I too think that this is the hold up. But maybe there's hope over the horizon ( like February ) when both the 2.5L and the 2.7L AR engines are debuted. Maybe one of these linked with the HSD will provide enough power for the large Sienna.

The other option is a NADM version of the Estima hybrid.

 

What is Ford doing? At the NAIAS they are launching the 2010 Mustang Shelby GT500. It has 540 HP and 510 lb-ft of torque. As to future vehicles:

Ford ------------ Chevy
Fiesta ------------ Spark
Focus ------------ Cruze
Fusion ----------- Malibu
Taurus ---------- Impala

Both GM and Ford are stepping up their car efforts and bringing European vehicles to the US

I think that any increase in fuel economy is good I don't care what technology is used. Direct Injection, turbo-charging, Hybrid, or diesel it doesn't matter to me. For example I think it is fantastic that GM increased the fuel economy of the Equinox by 25% using a direct injection 4 cylinder.

Yes I know Toyota had better CAFE numbers than GM. In 2007 GM was 25.66 to Toyota's 30.98. I was pointing out the hypocrisy of criticizing GM for making the Camaro that gets 27 mpg while Toyota also makes the Solara that also gets 27 mpg.

What is new at Lexus for 2009? The Lexus IS-F that gets 16/18/23 mpg. That is the same as the Corvette Z06 15/18/24.

 

The manufacturer controls what models they offer for sale. It is the customer that controls what cars are actually purchased.

 

I agree with Jhinton to a point, but how useful is a MPG comparision of a GM (Daewoo) Aveo to a Honda or Toyota sub-compact ? All models are in the same class size, but no one would confuse the quality or reliability. Even ignoring cost (obviously a silly thing to do), llifetime vehicle pollution is a complicated business to figure out; just looking at MPG can be a deceiving surrogate.

 

Take full-size trucks as an example. Both GM and Toyota launched new trucks in 2007. This is a category that Toyota desperately wants to break into. They made a truck that out trucked the Detroit 3, build a billion dollar plant in Texas, and spent millions on advertising.

GM sold 826,500 full-size trucks
Toyota sold 196,555 full-size trucks

Chevy C15 -------- 4.8L V8 ------ 14/16/19 mpg
Toyota Tundra ---- 4.7L V8 ------ 14/15/18 mpg
Chevy C15 -------- 6.0L V8 ------ 13/15/18 mpg
Toyota Tundra ---- 5.7L V8 ------ 14/16/18 mpg

Part of the reason that Toyota had a CAFE of 30.1 mpg in 2007 is because their full-size truck was a failure. It hasn't sold near the number planned and is selling so badly that they had to shut their brand new factory in Texas down for 3 months in 2008. They have tried putting thousand of dollars on the hood and 0% financing for 60 months. The consumer still won't buy the Tundra in the numbers that GM sells the C15. This is the customers decision not because Toyota isn't trying.

 

At least in my area (South Dakota), I see more Tundra's that Chevy's (trucks). Way more GM cars here (midwest). Hard to say why. also, the Prius population is as dense per population (60,000) here as the Pacific NW! Perhaps the Prius image is selling a few Tundra's for Toyota?

 

Thank you for pointing this out.
Have you seen the 2009 Sequoia and Tundra? They look as big as a Suburban or H2 Hummer ! Every time I see a new Sequoia on the street, I think "what was Toyota thinking???" 5920pounds and 13/18mpg.

 

Ok, so Toyota has video of an EV concept doing 10 mph down the street. Did I miss something? Wwwwhat am I going to do with that?

Seems backwards into the future since GM had the very quick EV1 over 10 years ago. That car may have cost a fortune though.

 

Well that is SAD. My wife's '86 Si (manual) pushed 40 MPG highway. Probably a smaller car I guess.