Featured Threads Archive

Source: 2017 Has Been The Year Of The Toyota Prius’ Decline

A good read;

Electric Cars Could Be a Job Killer for Japan’s No. 1 Industry - Bloomberg

Hopfully - this may be a wake up call for a market that their company has often intimated is not yet ready for 'Prime' time .... no pun intended.
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In July, newly elected Premiere Doug Ford canceled the generous EV program in Ontario with a ‘grace period’ for any eligible vehicles in dealer inventory, such that they can still get the rebate as long as it sold and plated by Sept 10. Of course, since Tesla operates differently and does not use a dealer network with inventory, that means rebates ended immediately on July 11 for any customers who had a Model 3 on order - and already paid a deposit - meaning their already-contracted car purchase just increased $14K! . This is completely unfair.

Tesla has allegedly been understanding and graceful in allowing these customers to cancel their order for full refund, now Tesla is suing Ontario for the unfair treatment.

Should be interesting!

Tesla suing Ontario government over cancellation of electric vehicle rebates | Globalnews.ca

Scientists create battery that refuels electric cars in seconds - BBC News

It is a flow battery in which the researchers have developed a system for removing spent electrolyte from the car, and then filling it with charged fluid. They may have also improved upon the flow battery's energy capacity(most are less than Li-ion).

The article is light on details, but if this can be scaled up, it does solve the long distance recharge question. I just hope somebody doesn't decide we don't need home charging any more because of it.

Looks like VW is really getting into their punishment.

Solar Car Sion – Sono Motors

The InsideEV's sales scorecard is out! They recently changed to a quarterly update and just finished updating the report this week.

According to InsideEV's, July marked the 34th month of consecutive year-over-year monthly sales gains for plug-in vehicles.

They estimated a total of 29,514 plug-in electric vehicles were sold in July, and based on automakers’ sales reports and InsideEV's estimates, 153,666 plug-in cars have been delivered through the end of July 2018.

Check out the full report and see the chart snapshot (pictured below), in its entirety, here.






The Prius Prime lands the 2nd spot for the month (1,984)

Here's a fun historical EV fact for this Friday



This Italian electric car let people commute for 7 cents during the 1970s oil crisis, hitting speeds of a whopping 28 mph, with a 55-mile range.

Dallas News shared more on the Elcar here.

Well, it isn't a hybrid.
Zero emissions vs. "Hybrid": When is a Nissan Leaf not "green?"

This is basically a Coles' Notes version of "The Prius That Shook The World" (a book that should be read by any Prius enthusiast).

Part 1:
The Story Behind the Birth of the Prius, Part 1 | TOYOTA Global Newsroom

Part 2:
The Story Behind the Birth of the Prius, Part 2 | TOYOTA Global Newsroom



It is not a stretch to say that for many people, the word "Prius" comes to mind when they hear the word "hybrid." The Prius has become so widely known that it is nearly synonymous with hybrid cars.

But what's the story behind the Prius? Just how did this revolution in car-making begin?

We spoke to Satoshi Ogiso, the only person to have worked on the Prius from the project planning stage all the way through to the current fourth generation. He told us about what led to the development of the very first Prius.

G21: It all...

I’d like to share with you my future project, which is a portable battery, that connects in parallel with the hybrid system of a Prius HEV and transforms it in a plug-in hybrid without plug.


Here is a list of the parts I believe are the best appropiate:


Battery: 48v 40Ah / 80 Ah. Since I start cheap. I’ll go with 40Ah:


High voltage EV Relay, activated by a switch in the dashboard: Avoids high voltage exposure when unplugging the battery and when the car is powered off.


Inverter 48vDC to 240VAC 2500W: since there are no DC boost converters on the market with this requirements I believe an inverter will do.


5A 288v Charger


Circuit is as follows:

Battery is charged at home, brought to the car and hooked to the inverter. Inverter connected to the 288v charger and charger connected to the terminals of the Prius battery pack through HV relay and controlled through a switch in the dashboard

This project will be applied in a Toyota Prius Gen3 and the purpose of this thread is...

I’m in in the Inland Empire - Riverside, California. My 2007 Prius touch screen is glitching “Lexus” logo and going black then going back to blue with Prius synergy. Basically it’s going haywire. I can’t use the touch screen buttons, or rather, rarely can. Sometimes it works for like 5 mins before going back to unfuctional.
I talked to the dealer and they just want to replace it, which is no longer in my budget due to other repairs that I finally took care of.
Does anyone know of someone in the Inland Empire or even the Los Angeles area that can possibly offer a cheaper alternative to completely replacing it.

Please let me know.
THANKS.

A deep dive, there are some 'a miracle occurs here': California ARB Annual Review 2018 issue

Bob Wilson

I'd probably be able to pick this one up.
Tesla is working on a ‘Tesla mini-car’, says Elon Musk | Electrek

The Tesla Model 3 Is Displacing The Toyota Prius: It's About Time

Yikes - that's the kind of press that'll REALLY ramp up the Short'ers & nay-sayers.
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Source: The EPA’s fuel economy rollback has a bizarre justification - Vox


Rule changes are...

Looks like there's a new use for an Isetta.
This adorable little electric car is ready to roll at speeds up to 56 mph | Electrek

Bob Wilson

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-toyota-hydrogen/toyota-plans-to-expand-production-shrink-cost-of-hydrogen-fuel-cell-vehicles-idUSKBN1KG

Key figures -