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Toyota creates new...

Key notes:

• 2.4 litre Atkinson cycle engine replacing the current 2.0 litre Otto cycle engine
• 10% boost to generator/motor output and battery capacity output
• +15% battery capacity
  
• Sport and Snow drive modes join normal and 4WD LOCK

Mitsubishi Outlander plug-in hybrid gets big powertrain improvements - Autoblog




Just as it's launched here, another midlife update is on its way.

news | Punchpowertrain

Punch Powertrain acquires French Apojee
On January 22th, an agreement was reached regarding the strategic acquisition of the French company Apojee by Punch Powertrain. Apojee is an industry expert in the field of Power Electronics with customers in the German and French Automotive industry (both OEMs and Tier 1s), as well as in motorsports (inverters for Formula E and for Formula One). The company is located in Clermont-Ferrand (FR), with additional offices in Nice (FR) and Munich (DE), counting 50 employees in total.

Expanding R&D capacity and capability
With this acquisition Punch Powertrain is rapidly increasing its R&D capacity in the field of Power Electronics with expertise covering the entire chain from product conception to production support. This contributes to achieving the strategic objectives of Punch...

Source: Here's Why You Should Avoid These 14 Plug-In Hybrids

Prius Prime is not on this list.

Bob Wilson

Article in Vox.com about another (apparently) heavy hitter who steps up to the challenge of Hydrogen.

And though HyTech Power, where Johnson serves as CTO, obviously seeks financial success, Johnson sees its products as something more: a way to use hydrogen to immediately reduce pollution while scaling up and driving down costs enough to enable more fundamental changes to the energy system.

HyTech Power may have solved hydrogen, one of the hardest problems in clean energy - Vox

Owner of two, plugin hybrids, I can confirm my EV miles are half the cost of the current gas miles. When you add the 'free' charging, the ratio is almost 3-to-1 in favor of EV miles.

Source: Electric Vehicles Cost Less Than Half As Much To Drive

Source:


Bob Wilson

Model 3 lowering springs....damn already looking for toys for a dream car...modders hmmmf![Vendor - Unplugged Performance Dual Rate LOWERING Spring Set | Tesla Motors Club

Toyota Prius hybrid no longer exempt from London Congestion Charge | Auto Express

To Power the Future, Carmakers Flip on 48-Volt Systems - The New York Times

tl;dr: 48v "mild hybrids" are going to become more common in the coming years.

Source: Tesla is giving 50,000 Australian homes solar power | World Economic Forum

Toyota Prius hybrid sales have tanked: here are 4 reasons why

In case you can't open the link or are just too lazy to read it, here's the 4 reasons:

1. Low gas prices.
2. Higher mpg overall in many vehicles compared to to a few years ago.
3. Non-plugin hybrids available in many shapes and forms from many automakers now, so Prius feels less special in this regard.
4. The polarizing design of the Gen 4 Prius. Some love it, some hate it.

So, what are your thoughts on it?

Looks like a great upgrade from my BMW i3-REx.

Bob Wilson

Interesting that they expect to mate the Prime tech with a boxter engine:

Subaru PHEV planned this year, using Toyota Prius Prime hybrid parts - Autoblog

Nissan and Audi: Different perspectives on electrification – similar goals | Norsk elbilforening

Albeit a bit inane I found the Norwegian interview a bit amusing given some former posturing I remember in the not distant past

Ah well
Enjoy

Once again, thanks to Jeff Cobb's team: http://www.hybridcars.com/january-2018-dashboard/

	model	01/15/18	12/15/17	11/15/17	10/15/17
1	Prius Liftback	4011	5401	4787	4532
2	RAV4	3502	4846	4349	5012
3	Transit Diesel	2629	4333	3798	3602
4	Fusion Hybrid	2519	4169	3541	5087
5	Model 3	1900	1050	350	150
6	Niro Hybrid	1630	2397	2235	1935
7	Camry Hybrid	1621	2913	2703	1897
8	Ram Pickup Diesel	1517	2147	1417	1712
9	Prius Prime	1496	2420	1834	1626
10	Bolt EV	1177	3227	2987	2781
11	Highlander Hybrid	976	1606	1393	1266
12	Ioniq Hybrid	902	829	939	870
13	Model S	900	4800	1400	1100
14	Prius C	811	954	854	900
15	Volt	713	1937	1702	1362
16	C-Max Hybrid	709	980	939	1092
17	Model X	700	3400	1800	900
18	Fusion Energi	640	875	731	741
19	Prius V	625	707	674	652
20	Clarity Plug In	594	898
21	RX 400 / 450 h	583	967	753	675
22	Colorado Diesel	554	557	594	956
23	Optima Hybrid	492	1007	1404	705
24	Accord Hybrid	487	1160	1586	1832
25	Avalon Hybrid	477	446	329	375
26	NX Hybrid	458	731	431	190
27	Lacrosse...

He's back with his thoughts on autonomous vehicles.
http://www.autonews.com/article/20171105/INDUSTRY_REDESIGNED/171109944/industry-redesigned-bob-lutz

The Internal Combustion Engine Is Dead? Mazda Has Another Idea With Innovative SkyActiv-X
How The Mercedes-AMG Project One Brings F1 Tech to the Street

Mazda has cracked the code for a compression ignition gasoline engine by using a spark plug to start a small pressure wave which controls the timing of a diesel like compression ignition, with similar efficiency and the ability to do lean burn (about 1/2 stoich fuel to air ratio) that supplies a cooler burn and lower emissions before pollution control. The ability to this lean means that the power band close to peak efficiency is much broader. This should be available in a car around the end of next year, and according to the forbes article toyota is...

Milestone for 'green motors' as Toyota's Prius turns 20 | Asia Times



More importantly, how come I've never heard of the Eco Cruiser concept car? It's a Prius wagon!

Prime: 1,496 units
Bolt: 1,177 units
Volt: 713 units

Pretty impressive numbers. I guess range isn't the only motivating factor.

Plug-in electric car sales fall in Jan after year-end surge (update)