Clean Fleet Articles

2012 Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid Test Drive and Review

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Sitting behind the wheel of this new Toyota Prius Plug-in (PHV), I wonder how the driving experience will compare with the Chevrolet Volt, my Nissan LEAF, and other members of the Prius family. Next month, Toyota starts the online order process for the Prius PHV with a starting price of $32,000 for dealer deliveries in early 2012. Online, buyers can configure their Prius PHV, start the order, and then select a Toyota dealer to continue the process.

Lexus RX 450h – Excellent Hybrid SUV with Optional AWD

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Now you can have an excellent SUV without sacrificing premium features, comfort and good fuel economy. The Lexus RX450h is a stylish 5-seat, 5-door, SUV that delivers 28 miles per gallon (mpg) city, 32 highway, and 30 overall. For an extra $1,590 you can get the all-wheel drive (AWD) version for better handling on snow and ice and still get 28 city, 30 highway, and 29 overall. The FWD 2011 Lexus RX 450h has a suggested starting price of $44,735 and the 2012 are $500 higher.

Electric Vehicle and Smart Grid Networks

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Thousands of electric cars are now communicating with owner’s smart phones, charging stations, and service networks. These EVs plug into smart grids that use network communications to charge off-peak, monitor and improve reliability. When I use my Blink EVSE to charge my Nissan Leaf, the charger sends a packet of info to the charging network every 15 minutes using Sprint. The charger is communications-ready supporting CDMA, Wi-Fi, and powerline communications.

Hyundai Making 2,000 Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles

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The most popular way to extend the range of an electric vehicle is to add a small gasoline engine coupled with a generator as done in the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid. The most popular way to extend the range of an electric bus is to add a fuel cell that generates added electrons. During the Winter Olympics, 100,000 riders were transported up Whistler’s 12 percent grades on 20 hydrogen fuel cell electric buses. Now SUVs made by Hyundai-Kai, General Motors and Toyota are also testing Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles.

Electric Car Platform Architecture from Volvo and Siemens

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Volvo and Siemens are in joint development of electric drive technology, power electronics and smart charging technology for electric cars including plug-in hybrids. This Scalable Platform Architecture will be used in current and future electric vehicles. These systems will be integrated into the Volvo C30 Electric and the Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid Diesel Crossover SUV.

Race to Make 100,000 Vehicles with Lithium Batteries

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As electric and hybrid car competition intensifies, Nissan, GM, Toyota, and Ford are in a race to sell the most vehicles with lithium batteries. I have driven cars from each of these automakers that use lithium batteries. The cars performed beautifully and delivered great fuel economy. Nissan will be the first to sell 100,000 battery electric cars. GM will be the first to sell 100,000 plug-in hybrids. Ford is switching all hybrid models to lithium batteries. Toyota, with 3 million hybrids sold, is bringing out three new cars with lithium batteries.

2012 Toyota Camry Hybrid – Good MPG Sedan

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The new 2012 Toyota Camry family of sedans offer improved fuel economy and more for the money. The new Camry Hybrid delivers a combined 41 mpg, soaring past current midsized sedan leader the Ford Fusion Hybrid. The Camry is so popular that 15 million have been sold. It has been America’s best selling car for 9 years. Toyota has sold more than 3 million hybrids; more than all competitors combined. Toyota announces its new seventh-generation Camry family as a bold, sophisticated new design with a more spacious interior, class-leading safety features, improved driving dynamics and quieter ride than before.

Hertz Expands Electric Car Rental in United States and China

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Hertz expands its Global EV initiative to China, making it the first global rental car company to offer electric cars on three continents. Hertz now offers the Nissan LEAF, Chevrolet Volt, Smart ED, Tesla Roadster and other electric cars in U.S. cities including New York, Washington DC, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Hertz is expanding the availability of pure electric cars and plug-in hybrids at airports, downtown hotels, university campuses, condos and co-ops and fleets.

Do Oil Companies Pay Their Fair Share?

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$380 billion of wasteful government spending, subsidies, and loopholes is detailed in the new Green Scissors report. http://greenscissors.com/ The amount is for 2012 to 2016. I’m not sure which is most surprising, the common sense distilled to 32-pages or the fact that the report is sponsored by both conservative and environmental groups. Green Scissors 2011 is published by four organizations: progressive environmental group Friends of the Earth, deficit hawk Taxpayers for Common Sense, consumer watchdog Public Citizen and free-market think tank The Heartland Institute.

Ford and Toyota Partnership for Hybrid Trucks and Hybrid SUVs

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Look for Major MPG Gains in Ford F150 and Toyota Tacoma Trucks; Toyota Highlander and Ford Escape SUVs. Ford and Toyota– the world’s two leading manufacturers of hybrid vehicles –announced they will equally collaborate on the development of an advanced new hybrid system for light truck and SUVs. Ford and Toyota have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the product development collaboration. Toyota has sold over 3 million hybrids, leading with the Prius, to achieve significant hybrid market share leadership. Ford has taken hybrid market share from Honda with the Ford Fusion Hybrid and achieved impressive SUV mileage with the Ford Escape Hybrid. The new powerful and fuel-efficient trucks and SUVs from this partnership will almost certainly use lithium batteries.

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