I Hate Prius Drivers

VANCOUVER — A bicycle was hit by an electric motorcycle in Vancouver Friday during an international race to promote zero emission vehicles, sending the injured cyclist to hospital to be treated for his injuries.

In a brief statement issued late Friday, Vancouver police spokeswoman Const. Jana McGuinness did not indicate whether the injuries suffered by the 50-year-old cyclist were serious.

She said “a cyclist collided with the side of an electric concept vehicle” and that the cause of the crash was under investigation, but would release no further information.

Read the entire article at:
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Zero+emission+race+vehicle+collides+with+cyclist+Vancouver/3820390/story.html

Unfortunately, that truth is offset a bit by the fact that the vehicle performs marginally worse than average when it comes to the emissions generated to build hybrid. Specifically, Toyota cranks out extra nonmethane hydrocarbons and particulate matter, thanks specifically to the manufacturing of the car’s electric motor and battery pack. Those two pieces require larger amounts of energy and materials, snagging the Prius lower than average ratings across all five manufacturing emissions categories.

Read the entire article at:
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/10/19/study-the-toyota-prius-has-a-dirty-side-after-all-manufacturi/

That’s right. I was dissed by an EV driver. “Whattya want?” asked my friend Jim.

“I dunno – he could wave. Smile. Something,” I replied. “We’re comrades in the EV revolution!”

“That guy is not your comrade,” Jim said. “It’s not like you’re both driving Jeeps or something. He’s driving a $120,000 Tesla. You’re driving an electric egg that’s a rolling ad for Mitsubishi. That guy doesn’t see you as an equal. He got up this morning, put on his designer jeans, his Italian loafers and bought a double whip half-caf mochachino before kissing his beautiful wife goodbye. And here you are, screwing up his mojo with your little electric egg.”

He should have his membership in the electric club revoked and his Tesla traded for a Wheego Whip.

Read the entire article at:
http://jalopnik.com/5669010/yes-electric-car-owners-can-be-assholes-too?skyline=true&s=i

The Toyota Prius finally appears ready to expand from a single model into a full lineup of vehicles. At the popular hybrid-electric car’s 10th anniversary party this past weekend, Toyota showed off a billboard that teased a larger, more frugal kind of people carrier with the tagline, “The Prius family is getting a whole lot bigger,” and it’s thoughtfully included a photo of it on the Prius’ Facebook page.

Read the entire article at:
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/10/11/toyota-prius-mpv-teased-on-billboard/

Hybrid and electric car owners have long been the beneficiaries of well-intended but poorly rationalized subsidies. It’s time to cut them out. Instead, these eco-drivers should be willing to pay a special tax for the privilege of being green.

My wife’s brother-in-law works in the perverse industry of carbon credits, known as “cap and trade” in some parts (not Cap’nn Trade, whose eco-crunch cereal is very popular in Brussels, I hear). Carbon credits are intangible tickets that first-world companies buy so that they can pump out the noxious vapors that are the sweet breath of life of modern civilization (Beijing Olympics aside). In return, these companies’ carbon offsets are paying for some banana republic not to do something that would make Mother Earth cry – like clearcutting a forest, or holding a Kings of Leon concert, for example. My wife’s brother-in-law makes sure that whatever these would-be third-world industrialists are not doing is really a valid carbon offset – an impossible task that attempts to assign a value to a negative. As Joni Mitchell said, you don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone, right? Then again, if the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that people in suits can monetize literally anything, no matter how worthless it is.

But I’ve realized that governments and big business have missed out on one particularly easy green revenue scheme, I mean revenue stream – green drivers. Eco-minded drivers will pay pretty much anything (they pay more to get less horsepower than the comparable dinoblood model). And odds are, hybrid and EV drivers are the folks among us who are least averse to taxation. How bizarre, then, that these are exactly the people to whom governments and automakers have been handing tax credits and subsidies! Horsefeathers, I say – let these people give some green to get some green – and I propose carbon offsets as the way to do so. Bear with me…

Read the entire article at:
http://jalopnik.com/5660195/why-hybrids-should-be-taxed-more

Considering the majority of people in the U.S. know little to nothing about automobiles in general it is no surprise that Toyota has become the brand standard for quality.

Not that Toyota makes a bad vehicle, but it seems by casual observation that the average Toyota buyer knows and cares far less about the vehicle they drive than most any other brand. Why is this? An average Toyota driver seems content to use the vehicle as an appliance, trusted and reliable as a toaster, but completely devoid of passion about their vehicle or the joy that can be derived from it. The problem with this is that it will lead to Toyota’s eventual downfall. Cars are as much a piece of art and form as they are an appliance and function. Toyota has built and maintained the appliance portion of the equation but has let the passion die.

The last truly passionate or even interesting vehicle from Toyota must be the last generation Supra, sold in the US from 1993 to 1997. Nothing from Toyota since then has had any real appeal or interest beyond basic transportation. The company builds highly reliable machinery, unintended acceleration notwithstanding, but these days every manufacturer builds highly reliable machinery. If it were not for the longstanding reputation for quality Toyota deservedly earned through the 1970s and 1980s there would be nothing to separate Toyota from Kia, Hyundai, Chevy, Ford, or any other current high volume manufacturer. This is surely something on the minds of Toyota designers and executives as it is a path to mediocrity.

This divergence from excellence, and path to mediocrity, draws a certain type of buyer towards Toyota. People that are passionate about their cars do not choose a new Toyota. People that like to drive do not choose a new Toyota. People that have purchased Toyotas in the past and had a good experience with them as an appliance tend to buy Toyota again, but the reasons for this come back to utility and experience. As other brands continue to compete at the same or higher level of quality, and add additional measures of passion and character to their products, Toyota will find itself at a disadvantage. The reputation for quality has been dinged by the unintended acceleration scandal and only shortens the lifespan of the quality reputation in the marketplace, as a new generation of buyer comes online that only knows of Toyota quality by the words of their parents.

Read the entire article at:
http://jalopnik.com/5660175/toyota-unintended-deceleration

Forget all the reasons why a carpool is uncomfortable and you’re left with plenty of reasons why it doesn’t even make economical sense.

First, this guy wanted me to pay $75 a month to join this carpool which is ridiculous; I only spend on average $120 a month driving myself to work. Secondly, for four people a van which gets -2 mpg is hardly a great economical alternative.

Time is money and the carpool wasted an extra hour of my life, the guy driving is destined to crash and kill me which would be rather unpleasant and the diseases captured in the blue suede upholstery will undoubtedly send me to the hospital. No to mention the fact that he would undoubtedly kill me at some point and that would be rather unpleasant.

In theory, carpooling is a great idea. Who needs to drive to work in a car all by themselves and clog up the roadways when they could share?

I didn’t like sharing in preschool when I threw a block at little Timmy for trying to steal my toys and I don’t like sharing now because it’s unpleasant and will most likely kill me.

Read the entire article at:
http://jalopnik.com/5659762/car-pools-are-the-devils-work

Selling at a rate of about 400,000 annual units worldwide, the Prius sits head-and-shoulders above any of its so-called competitors. All these sales mean you get to reach milestones now and again. Last month, the Prius reached another one, shattering the two-million sales mark worldwide. By the end of September, sales of the Prius stood at 2,012,000 and counting. You can hold back the applause for now, as the Prius’ record-setting run is far from over. Oh, yeah, a congratulatory pat on the back is welcomed as we also celebrate ten years of Prius sales in the U.S. which takes place, appropriately enough, on 10.10.10. Hit the jump for more on the Prius’ sales totals and plans for its ten-year anniversary celebration.

Read the entire article at:
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/10/08/worldwide-toyota-prius-sales-crack-2-million-mark-10-year-annive/

The California Air Resources Board put tough restrictions on off-road trucks three years ago based on estimating such machines burned 1 million gallons of diesel a year. Its estimates were off 340%, and now CARB has to weaken its rules.

Turns out it’s not the first time CARB has miscounted how much pollution vehicles make and been forced to redo regulations because of it. Such miscues matter well beyond California because CARB essentially has veto power over nationwide fuel economy regulations, thanks to a nettle of laws that makes “Bleak House” seem like “Hop on Pop.”

Read the entire article at:
http://jalopnik.com/5659349/calif-officials-write-law-by-overestimating-pollution-340

In fact, since pickup trucks are hated by greenies everywhere, we decided we’d create the above chart to show how it compares with the number of pickup trucks sold here in the United States over the same 13 year period the Prius has been sold. Americans bought over 34 million pickup trucks at the same time as Toyota sold two million Priuses.

Read the entire article at:
http://jalopnik.com/5658032/putting-prius-sales-in-perspective?skyline=true&s=i