tagged w/ Prius
-
Toyota is known around the world for producing affordable, reliable cars with gas mileage that far exceeds the low expectations set by the American government. Despite technical difficulties with some of its cars in 2010, the Japanese company is once again ready to set the standard for cutting edge technology.
"In the 1980's we promised people that our technology would be so advanced by the year 2000, everyone would be driving flying cars," said Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda. "Everyday I get angry emails from nerds like Avery Brooks, reminding me that it's now 2011, and we're still making cars that drive on the ground."
And Toyoda has had enough.
On April 1st, the Toyota CEO strode into a meeting with his head designers and engineers, and delivered some shocking news: Toyota would halt production of its incredibly popular Prius line so that the company could focus its efforts on being the first to offer a fuel efficient, affordable flying car.
Keep reading: http://t.co/3LPhVfYToyota is known around the world for producing affordable, reliable cars with gas... more
-
-
Los Angeles, Calif. (March 23, 2011)—Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. today announced that the Toyota Prius, the iconic hybrid that has been setting records for over a decade, has inspired an unprecedented, live and interactive event which attempts to set as many Universal Record Database (URDB) world records as possible in and around the vehicle. The event will take place on March 30 and 31, 2011 at www.toyotapriusprojects.com for two 10-hour record-setting webcasts.
Following the Prius family of vehicles announcement at this year’s Detroit Auto Show, Prius Records sets forth to reach new heights with Prius while inspiring others in the community to do the same. Four Prius hybrids—including the Prius Plug-in Hybrid and the larger, more versatile Prius v—will be paired with a dedicated team of record-setting experts who will attempt what has never been done before. The public is also invited to tweet and engage in their own record breaking ideas. The ultimate Prius Records goal: to set 200 records in two 10-hour days.
“Toyota Prius Records gives us the opportunity to engage our incredibly loyal Prius owners and enthusiasts in a highly unique way,” said Bob Zeinstra, national manager, advertising and strategic planning for Toyota. “The live streaming, record-breaking approach leverages interactive technology and provides a great catalyst for community participation.”
For the event, Toyota is partnering with URDB World Records, an organization with the philosophy, “everyone can be the world’s best something.” The www.URDB.org site has a record-setting approach that is inclusive, inventive and, most of all, fun. The URDB hosts will officiate each of the records as they are attempted live for the online audience.
The Toyota Prius challenge team is currently developing world record ideas that fuse creativity and ability with hilarity to bring forth pure record-setting entertainment. Some possible records may include:
• Largest mural created during a 3-hour Prius Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle charge.
• Most pool noodles fit inside the cargo area of a Prius v.
• Farthest launch of a gumdrop using the windshield wiper of a Prius.
For a further taste, check out www.toyotapriusprojects.com/#/010.
The Prius community is challenged to tap into their unique passions and greatest talents to create, break and document world records with a Toyota Prius. Toyota Prius owners, enthusiasts and anyone with a record-breaking vision can participate in the live action by tweeting @Toyota using #PriusRecords, as well as posting their own challenge recommendations to www.toyotapriusprojects. Surprise guests will also be onsite at the Prius Records event to contribute their own record-setting ideas.
After the records have all been set, video footage of each will live on a dedicated Toyota channel on www.URDB.org. Toyota then invites the community at large to attempt to break these records by uploading videos of their own Prius record-setting attempts to the URDB World Records website for recognition and online bragging rights.
The Prius Records online interface on www.toyotapriusprojects.com will feature real-time record setting stunts, a running count of records set and videos of the records for viewers to share. Tune in on March 30 and 31 to see the spectacle unfold.Los Angeles, Calif. (March 23, 2011)—Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. today... more
-
-
-
-
YG
-
added this
-
11 months ago
- |
-
Google is already mapping the world with its Google Street View Cars, Snowmobiles and Tricycles. If you are driving on Highway 1 between San Francisco and Los Angeles, you might actually spot this Google Toyota Prius car with a strange cylinder on the roof – and a driver who is sitting back and enjoying the view, while not actually driving. Automated cars are finally here for real, and Google is making it a reality.
http://www.quickonlinetips.com/archives/2010/10/google-automated-self-driving-cars-video/Google is already mapping the world with its Google Street View Cars, Snowmobiles and... more
-
-
Hybrid cars are everywhere. And all-electric cars are coming: General Motors' Volt and Nissan's Leaf are due to hit the streets by the end of the year.
But in Bonny Doon, Calif., one company has been converting gas-sucking cars into all-electric vehicles since 1979. Mike Brown, with his company Electro Automotive, was the first to sell parts for gas-to-electric conversions, and he teaches workshops on DIY conversions.
"The market we focused on was the grocery-getter," Brown says. He wanted the cars to be able to hold four adults and a load of groceries.
The short-commute market is a natural fit for electric-car conversions because these cars do have limitations: the biggest being how far the car can go on one battery charge.
Recently, Brown and some of his students converted a gold 1984 VW Rabbit from gas to electric in the hands-on workshop.
The Rabbit got an electric motor that runs on 18 batteries like the ones used in golf carts.
Brown's wife and business partner, Shari Prange, says cars like the retooled Rabbit can get from 20 miles to 100-plus miles between battery charges. It depends on the car, how it's driven and its amenities.
"If you're using accessories like air conditioning, or if you've got four-wheel drive, that's going to use more energy," she says. "If you want a really hot acceleration car, that uses more energy just like it uses more gas."
And that's the challenge a business like Electro Automotive will face from the growing electric market.
It's not about saving money. It's about having [an] electric vehicle for my enjoyment as well as doing good for the environment.
- Daniel Marcom, an Electro Automotive student
Bill Moore, who publishes the online electric vehicle magazine EV World, says what the Nissan Leaf will have over gas conversions is that it was built to be an electric car. "This thing is going to drive just like any car," Moore says. "The only limit being it'll only go as far as its batteries will carry it."
Nissan puts the range at 100 miles.
'Doing Good For The Environment'
Still, back in the Electro Automotive workshop, student and former airplane mechanic Daniel Marcom says he'd rather build his own. "This way I can modify it exactly the way I want it," he says.
And Marcom says he'll take what he learned working on this conversion back home to Hawaii. He expects to spend about $20,000 to convert a Porsche. Some DIY conversions can be done for as little as $9,000. "It's not about saving money," Marcom says. "It's about having [an] electric vehicle for my enjoyment as well as doing good for the environment."
Brown and Prange know the emerging electric-car market can take a bite out of their business, but it can also help their business grow because it increases awareness. "We're no longer a bunch of hairball freaks on the fringe," Prange says.
And while major manufacturers may not say so, Moore credits the fringe electric-car enthusiasts for keeping the technology alive.Hybrid cars are everywhere. And all-electric cars are coming: General Motors'... more
-
-
The man who invented a breakthrough battery wants to build plants in the U.S. Obama Administration efforts may help him to achieve his dream of putting Americans back to work, making American products.The man who invented a breakthrough battery wants to build plants in the U.S. Obama... more
-
-
Acid Rain Man – environmental savant and self-described “excellent Prius driver” – awaits a decision on global warming from Judge Wapner.
Inspired by Dustin Hoffman’s Oscar-winning character in “Rain Man” -- a tongue-in-cheek Earth Day video.Acid Rain Man – environmental savant and self-described “excellent Prius... more
-
-
Toyota to agree to $16.4M government fine
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Toyota is expected to agree to a $16.4 million fine for its delay in telling the government about defective gas pedals. (KABC Photo)
WASHINGTON -- Toyota Motor Corp. is expected to agree to a fine of more than $16 million, the largest government penalty levied against an automaker, for a four-month delay in telling federal authorities about defective gas pedals on its vehicles, a Transportation Department official said Sunday.
Toyota faces a Monday deadline to accept or contest the $16.4 million fine over evidence it knew about sticking gas pedals in September but did not issue a recall until January.
The Transportation official was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke only on condition of anonymity. The official said Toyota is expected to pay the full amount of the assessed fine within 30 days as a means of avoiding going to court against the government.
The official said Toyota did not intend to accept liability explicitly. But from the government's viewpoint, the official said, the agreement to pay the full fine constituted an acceptance of responsibility for hiding the safety defect in violation of the law.
Toyota did not immediately comment on the fine. Under federal law, automakers are required to notify the government within five business days when they find a potential safety defect.
Toyota announced it would recall 2.3 million vehicles in January to address sticking pedals on popular vehicles such as the Camry and Corolla. The Japanese automaker has recalled more than 8 million vehicles worldwide because of acceleration problems in multiple models and braking issues in the Prius hybrid.
Concerns about sticking gas pedals and complaints from Toyota owners in the U.S. were rising at the end of 2009, according to chronologies of the investigation Toyota provided to the government.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said documents provided by Toyota showed the automaker had known about the sticky pedal defect at least since Sept. 29, 2009, when it issued repair procedures to distributors in 31 European countries to address complaints of sticking pedals, sudden increases in engine RPM and sudden vehicle acceleration.
The documents also showed that Toyota knew that owners in the United States had experienced the same problems.
The Japanese automaker has been weighing its options since the fine was announced in early April but analysts expected it to pay the penalty.
The company has been named in 138 potential class-action lawsuits over falling vehicle values and about 100 personal injury and wrongful death cases in federal courts. Federal prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission are conducting investigations related to the recalls.
"When you look at the toll it's taken on Toyota's reputation, when you look at the number of vehicles involved, when you look at the hardship it's placed on Toyota's customer base, it's only right for Toyota to take this fine," said Dennis Virag, president of Automotive Consulting Group based in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Transportation officials have not ruled out additional fines. The department is reviewing whether Toyota delayed for six weeks the late January recall of the 2009-2010 Venza in the United States to address floor mats that could entrap the accelerator pedal after making a similar recall in Canada.
Toyota recalled the Venza in Canada in December and reported to the U.S. government on Dec. 16 that the floor mats could move forward while the vehicle is in use and "may interfere with the accelerator pedal."
Toyota told U.S. authorities at the time that the floor mats in question were not imported into the U.S. but the Venza was added to the floor mat recall in late January.
http://digiads.com.au/car-news/images/2006/11/thumbs/lrg_article_8430-img_0.jpgToyota to agree to $16.4M government fine
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Toyota is... more
-
-
Current News
Holy cow. If you haven't been reading Andrew Fitzgerald's latest posts over on the Current News blog, you've been missing out. Don't panic, we'll get you caught up.
First up is a post that includes raw footage of Afghan insurgents being blown up by their own IED. The footage is shot from overhead from the perspective of airborne Apache helicopters, and well...
Here's a snippet:
US military personnel watch as Afghan insurgents set up a deadly IED and then accidentally trigger it themselves. I think this video is pretty rare: I imagine not many insurgents are caught on camera setting up their IEDs.
Check out the full video on the Current News blog and see for yourself.
To top things off, Andrew hit the ground running today with two new posts: The first regards Muntazer al-Zaidi, the Iraqi reporter made famous for throwing his shoes at President George W. Bush, and the implications of his reception post-release. Next up Andrew revisits the Kibera slums, which are now beginning to be dismantled in Kenya. Several years ago, Vanguard's Christof Putzel produced a peice on the Kibera slums, take a look:
Vanguard's Christof Putzel takes a look at the Kibera slum
In his post Andrew brings us updates on the present state of things in the Kibera slums outside of Nairobi. Take a look.
Current Movies
As is the style of John Lichman's Current Movies blog dispatches, here is a listicle of important posts you may have missed out on:
The New York Film Festival is starting up, and Current Movies is all over it. I suspect covering the fest may have been an elaborate ploy on Lichman's part, who may be secretly missing NYC. However, he's promised that we'll be premiering trailers, interviews, and magical unicorns over on Current Movies and our New York Film Festival group. Keep an eye out for more, I'm holding him to it.
John caught Stingray Sam at CineVegas this year, and he hasn't stopped talking about it. Good news for you, both his review and film's episodes are available via the tubes. Take a peek.
Toronto A to F, Weinstein's Super Serious Bet, and Harry Potter's Park. All part of Wednesday's Important News.
Speaking of festivals, are there too many out there? Read and decide for yourself?
Current Music
Over on the Current Music blog, Shana Naomi Krochmal unleashes word of two new punk rock docs. Check out the details, and peruse a list of classic punk rock doc faves culled from the Current Music community!
From the "Get this now" files, Peter Grumbine has not 1, but 2 offerings this week:
Os Mutantes' "Haih or Amortecedor" is their first album in 35 years. Here's some of what Peter had to say:
If you don’t know Mutantes, it would be easy to say something like they’re the Brazilian Beatles or the Brazilian version of the guys from Buena Vista Social Club, but they’re not; they’re Os Mutantes.
The Mutantes were a big part of the Tropicalia movement in Brazil during the ’60s. Imagine what you know about the psychedelic ’60s in America and the UK, and then combine that with Carnival, and you can basically suss up the sound of that movement. Put simply, it’s fucking wild.
Read more here.
As a "Get this too" add-on, Peter recommends Rodrigo y Gabriela. Here's what he had to say:
In case you don’t know the story, years ago, Rodrigo y Gabriela were in some badass metal bands in Mexico, but they grew tired of the limited scene and potential there. A lady from Mexico who had moved to Ireland was back in Mexico and ran into them. After talking about their situation, she invited them to come stay with her in Ireland, a country where artists were treated better. Ah fate, at last!
Read more here.
Current Tech
Ever since Sarah Lane took Final Cut Pro classes, she's been cutting together some awesome tech videos and posting them on the Current Tech blog. Here's a taste of flickr's new iPhone app, plus a list of some of the others she's cooked up:
Flickr's iPhone App... Finally!
Mag.ma - All the videos you love, plus the ones you don't
ColorSuckr for Photo Enthusiasts/Amateur Designers
Who here likes Helvetica? *Raises hand*
Current Green
Over on the Current Green blog, Leah Lamb tackled the green contraception debate (who knew?) while fantasizing about getting a greener car. Here's a snippet of what she learned:
I recently learned while checking out an article reporting on the Frankfurt Auto Show: I should start using condoms to lower my carbon footprint. The facts are coming out, if you want a car that has a small carbon footprint (we’ll skip over the argument that you wouldn’t have a car) than you should have a small car. A very small car. The kind of car that would make you get out of it if you wanted to…discuss… the birds and the bees. The kind of car that doesn’t need to carry a large family.
Who knew, right? Give the full post a look to learn more.
Guest poster Joshua Wiese, the coordinator for the Adopt a Negotiator project kicked off our first post for 360 Degrees of Copenhagen -- a series of blog posts leading up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (aka COP15) in Copenhagen on December 7th, 2009. Give it a read.
Current Comedy
Funny man Josh Heller is in a "tribute" mood this week, and he has three Current Comedy blog posts to place on the alter of the Internet gods (that means you, dear readers):
First up, a Current Virals rundown dedicated to the memory of Patrick Swayze. No one puts Heller in the corner.
Next up, a very special Current Comedy blog post about the most famous meme to ever surface from Mexico in dedication of Mexican Independence Day.
Last, but not least, a special taste of what is to come on infoMania this week. Here's a hint: it involves Sarah Haskins and backpacks. Think you know the answer? Better click to make sure.
Current News
Holy cow. If you haven't been reading Andrew Fitzgerald's... more
-
-
You want to do good. You really do. You want to feel like you're making a difference. Everywhere you turn you see evidence of climate change and the 6th mass extinction and you can't handle it anymore. You want everyone to know about what is happening, and you are shocked that more people aren't paying attention.
And then it hits you, if only people were laughing about climate change, then more people would get involved. It's like when they teach you if you are attacked never yell "Rape" because people will run away, but if you yell, "Fire" then people will come towards you. So you decide that you want to make people laugh about climate change. So you make a video. Because you want people to laugh. Only problem is, in some of these cases, we aren't laughing with you, and in some of these cases I'm not sure we're laughing as much as smirking. But gosh darnit, you did it. And so today, we honor you. The makers of weird green videos.
The following videos (for better or for worse) have been officially nominated for Current Green's WEIRD GREEN FILM FESTIVAL. Please feel free to vote and nominate a few of your own. More to come.
"In My Prius" You know I took notes.
"Eco Boy" I probably should have saved this video for the "REALLY weird green video festival" (coming soon to a website near you.)
Due to Global Warming, Hell Freezes Over
Addition videos you might enjoy that aren't quite as, well, weird:
Guerrilla Gardener (video)
Green Mideast Peace Project (video)
Green and Buried (video)
You want to do good. You really do. You want to feel like you're making a... more
-
-
leahl
-
added this
-
2 years ago
- |
-
[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Algae powered Prius"][/caption]
Cars cars cars. I used to think you had to be a guy to be into cars. Right up until that moment when I started really caring about my carbon footprint, and then all I could think about was freaking cars. I got obsessed to be true. I looked into veggie cars. That’s cool, but my friends who were doing it were spending hours gathering oil and then creating the fuel in their garages and that didn’t work for me. I checked out biodiesel, and considered getting an old diesel car and converting it. But when I looked at the kind of car I could afford, and added up the amount of repairs that car would also need, that was ironically expensive. Then I looked into converting my car into an electric. One long drive down to LA later I soon realized that that epic procedure was out of the question for me as well.
And then I started looking into newer cars, which led me on a massive hunt to find and understand what went into making a car green, which took me on a epic hunt to learn about new technologies and what actually went into defining a car as green. This entire process has only been two years in the making and has taken hours of scouring listservs and barely managed sites, and frankly, turned out to be a source of torture for this non-autophile. At the end of the day, the process made me want to ride my bike more. But it doesn’t change the issue: I still need a car, and I still want it to be a good one that is using the latest technologies and within my price range.
While embarking on my latest search for a green car I learned something I didn't expect to hear: If you want to reduce your carbon footprint no more making out in the back seat of your car. Wait. I mean, you can make out, just don’t go all of the way. No wait. IF there the back seat of your car is big enough, you can go all of the way, but you have to use a condom. So if you really want to reduce your carbon footprint. Look in your..uhh..wallet, and not at you gas tank. That's what I recently learned while checking out an article reporting on the Frankfurt Auto Show: I should start using condoms to lower my carbon footprint. The facts are coming out, if you want a car that has a small carbon footprint (we'll skip over the argument that you wouldn’t have a car) than you should have a small car. A very small car. The kind of car that would make you get out of it if you wanted to...discuss... the birds and the bees. The kind of car that doesn't need to carry a large family.
That is what The London School of Economics suggests, that condoms and other forms of birth control would be a good first step. A new report, Fewer Emitters, Lower Emissions, Less Cost, suggests that family planning should be seen as a primary method for curbing greenhouse-gas emissions.
John Voelcker, editor in chief of GreenCarReports.com asks the very simple question: "Suppose all the money we're investing in better gas mileage and auto emission controls could be used to cut greenhouse gases more productively? What would we spend it on?
Turns out that family planning services are remarkably cost-effective at cutting carbon emissions. Contraception and family planning can cut 1 ton of carbon for $6.70, the report says, against more conventional low-carbon technologies (including more fuel-efficient cars) at up to $31.70 per ton."
Does this change the fact that reproducing is part of our genetic design, and that I happen to really like small children? Nope. This is beginning to be the heated debate of our time, and the conversation will only get more heated as the temperatures rise (or rather, sporadically changes). Meanwhile, to distract myself, I'll keep fantasizing about getting a better and greener car.
infoMania's Ben Hoffman says, Buy a Prius, Get Laid
Related content:
Can Condoms Curb Climate Change Cheaper Than Low-Carbon Cars?
Frankfurt: Volkswagen's Radical 170-MPG Diesel Two-Seater
Want To Go Even Greener? Power Your Prius on...Algae ?!?!?
[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="300"... more
-
-
leahl
-
added this
-
2 years ago
- |
-
Dear world,
It's Earth Day: which means that if you are a green business, organization, activist, blogger, or consumer, than it must be time to launch something. It's sort of built into your DNA. You hear EARTH DAY, and you think: JOIN THE MASSES AND TRY TO GET EVERYONE'S ATTENTION TO MY GREEN PRODUCT when all any green minded person wants to do is put their toes in the sand and look at the sea, or lay on their back at look at clouds and contemplate their relationship to planet earth.
Ahh well: here goes: a list of some cool initiatives launching today:
Green Peace has set a goal of mobilizing 3 million people to join the fight for the climate, to force governments to act against runaway climate change.
To-go ware lunched their new bamboo utencil set. Never throw away another plastic utensil ever again, clip it to your purse and have a conversation starter, and look good while you reduce your impact on the planet. Not a bad deal (but go fast: because the masses will be gathering after they are featured on Oprah later today).
TheFind and GoodGuide are partnering to help shoppers find green products: Over 1 million green products from organic and environmentally-friendly brands and stores can be found on TheFind.com using its new green shopping search. GoodGuide helps consumers make safe, healthy and green choices by allowing them to search or browse over 70,000 food, toys, personal care, and household cleaning products to quickly learn the impacts of their purchases. GoodGuide scientifically rates products, brands, and companies on their health, social and environmental performance.
Honda's "Prius-Killing" Hybrid to Launch Globally Earth Day 2009 (need I say more?)
And a few other things worthy of checking out today:
Get your green on and check out Mother Nature's News round up of green blogs worthy of checking out
The Huffington Post gives some ideas for how to fill your earth-day-evening and even offers a few ideas about how to green your sex life
Not to be missed: Stephen Thomson submitted this mash-up video of Al Gore's call to action on climate change. After all..every day is earth day.
[current 88891617]
Oh! And I almost forgot! Current.com/green is launching our blog today! (Hellllooooo blogosphere). We'll be posting the good, the bad and the ugly re: green news and information, and giving up what goes on behind the scenes of Current Green. You'll find everything from the latest breaking news, to weird green videos, to eco tips, luminaries, to thoughtful discussions about the state of the world.
[current 89984532]
So Happy Birthday Earth!
Love,
CurrentDear world,
It's Earth Day: which means that if you are a green business,... more
-
-
leahl
-
added this
-
2 years ago
- |
-
Every now and again there comes along a scientific study that proves beyond reasonable doubt what you instinctively know to be true: wine is good for you, exercise is dangerous, and self-righteous environmentalists are lying, cheating, thieving degenerates.
I'm exaggerating only a little. Do Green Products Make Us Better People?, a paper in the latest edition of the journal Psychological Science, argues that those who wear what the authors call the "halo of green consumerism" are less likely to be kind to others, and more likely to cheat and steal. Faced with various moral choices – whether to stick to the rules in games, for example, or to pay themselves an appropriate wage – the green participants behaved much worse in the experiments than their conventional counterparts. The short answer to the paper's question, then, is: No. Greens are mean.
The authors, two Canadian psychologists, came up with an intriguing explanation for this. "Virtuous acts," they write, "can license subsequent asocial and unethical behaviour." It's the yin-yang theory of psychology, or "compensatory ethics", to give it its proper name. Buy an organic potato, then go home and beat your wife with The Guardian. Hop smugly into a green hybrid car, then use it to run over little old ladies doing their shopping.
This "moral balancing" argument, however, clearly has its limits. Most people are sufficiently balanced without having to swing to opposite ends of the moral spectrum. We can give money to charity without dipping into the company till at the same time. Every good act doesn't necessitate a bad one. To every action, there is not an equal and opposite reaction. Buying an expensive courgette with a bit of mud on it need not turn you into a tyrant.
No, what this study really does is to confirm our deep-rooted suspicion that there is something fishy about people who profess to be greener than thou. Those climate-change scientists in East Anglia didn't do their cause any favours with their emails. The most inconvenient truth for Al Gore was when reporters discovered just how large his home energy bills were.
As with the worst type of religious zealot, there is nothing more annoying than the zeal of the converted, especially when it is tainted with the hypocrisy of self-righteousness. As we report today, people are more likely to buy environmentally friendly produce in shops than on the internet. Being seen to be green is more important than anything else. I wonder whether that will change if it now becomes a case of being seen to be mean.
We should, of course, distinguish between the quiet, worthy faith of the majority, who recycle when they remember and try not to fly long-haul to New Zealand more than twice a month, and the infuriating, evangelical minority, who pour white paint all over nice, black 4x4s.
We've always suspected they were bullies. In the Seventies British film Nuts in May, Mike Leigh hilariously skewered the sort of couple whose supposed love of the environment – and why do so many of these people live in towns? – is really just a device to stop everyone else having fun.
And now, at last, we have confirmation that they're tight as well. They might be willing to pay over the odds for a lovingly tended carrot, but in every other area of normal human activity, their greenness is merely a mask for miserliness. The wind turbine, the tandem bike with a dangerous little buggy on the back for the twins, the self-denying holidays in Wales… Get a boiler! Get a car! Get out of here!
We have been kind to these unkind people for far too long. Now that their halo has fallen and they can no longer boast their green credentials as a shorthand for moral superiority, it is time to fight fire with fire. How about a little compensatory ethics of our own? Double the tax on organic food as a deterrent; it is clearly a starter drug to a lifetime of amorality. Stop and search anyone in a Prius. Conduct dawn raids on north London allotments. Otherwise, one can only imagine the sort of dystopia that would ensue if these mean little green men were allowed to run amok.Every now and again there comes along a scientific study that proves beyond reasonable... more
-
-
This is one of those stories that you kind of wish was actually true.
I would be much happier knowing that James Sikes. 61, was culpable somehow for this incident than knowing that there is an unidentifiable (or un-admittable) issue going on.
Still, I don't think that the Mrs. and I will be getting a Prius now. Which is sad, b/c that is the way we were leaning. Hopefully, a U.S. auto maker will step up and make a hybrid that is safe and affordable.This is one of those stories that you kind of wish was actually true.
I would be... more
-
-
derk
-
added this
-
1 year ago
- |
-
So is this a coverup or is this guy really lying?? What is going on?
The tests have cast doubt upon the March 8 incident in which James Sikes called police and said he needed help because the gas pedal in his blue 2008 Prius was stuck.
After reaching speeds over 145 kilometers per hour, Sikes was able to bring the hybrid to a stop with the coaching of a California Highway Patrol officer who pulled up alongside him.So is this a coverup or is this guy really lying?? What is going on?
The tests have... more
-
-
When it's only happening to a few out of many, i'm not surprised
Investigators from Toyota and the government have been unable to duplicate the runaway acceleration in a 2008 Prius that a Southern California man said took him on a 30-mile wild ride last week, according to a draft memo from a congressional panel.
The tests on the Prius -- belonging to San Diego resident James Sikes, 61 -- were conducted in California on Wednesday and Thursday by officials from Toyota and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Also observing the test was a staffer from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which has been investigating Toyota recall problems and heard testimony from top-ranking company officials in recent weeks.
Toyota and the NHTSA allowed the Republican committee staffer to observe the tests and report the findings to both parties on the committee after pressure was applied by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the committee's ranking member. The memo obtained by The Washington Post is a draft of the final report.
The memo was reported over the weekend by the Associated Press.
"On our test drive, the field technician tried to duplicate the same experience that Mr. Sikes experienced," the staffer wrote in the memo. "After about two hours of driving he was unsuccessful. Every time the technician placed the gas pedal to the floor and the brake pedal to the floor the engine shut off and the car immediately started to slow down."When it's only happening to a few out of many, i'm not surprised... more
-
-
diode
-
added this
-
1 year ago
- |
-
-
A Toyota Prius accelerated out of control on a busy California freeway on Monday before police intervened to bring the vehicle to a standstill, police said.
James Sikes, 61, was driving on the busy Interstate 8 freeway outside San Diego when he noticed his car was starting to accelerate of its own accord, the California Highway Patrol said.A Toyota Prius accelerated out of control on a busy California freeway on Monday... more
-
-
Toyota's Prius remains the top-selling car in Japan despite the automaker's global recall woes that included braking problems with the hit hybrid.
More than 27,000 of the gas-electric hybrids were sold in February, making the Prius the best selling model for the 10th straight month, according to Japan Automobile Dealers Association figures released Thursday.Toyota's Prius remains the top-selling car in Japan despite the automaker's... more
-
-
LINO LAKES, Minn. – Ever since his 1996 Toyota Camry shot up an interstate ramp, plowing into the back of an Oldsmobile in a horrific crash that killed three people, Koua Fong Lee insisted he had done everything he could to stop the car.
A jury didn't believe him, and a judge sentenced him to eight years in prison. But now, new revelations of safety problems with Toyotas have Lee pressing to get his case reopened and his freedom restored. Relatives of the victims — who condemned Lee at his sentencing three years ago — now believe he is innocent and are planning to sue Toyota. The prosecutor who sent Lee to prison said he thinks the case merits another look.
Full Article:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100225/ap_on_bi_ge/us_toyota_fatal_crashLINO LAKES, Minn. – Ever since his 1996 Toyota Camry shot up an interstate ramp,... more
-
