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Toyota Prius: Expanding the Lead in Hybrids

Toyota Prius, JPN. Recently, if you look at the history of Toyota Company since the company was founded in 1937, Toyota is in the midst of its worst recession – but in other side it’s raising the price of the 2010 Toyota Prius by about $400. This seeming contradiction appears to be part of Toyota’s core ‘rotate’ strategy: blow up the volume on marketing, and lead with the Toyota Prius.

<img src="http://www.1st-in-hybrid.com/images/toyota-prius-third-generation.jpg"alt="toyota prius third generation"title="toyota prius third generation">

The base Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price or MSRP of the new third generation of Toyota Prius will currently range from $22,400 to $27,670, depending on the trim package. The revolution will be effective in late October.

In spite of the recession in its sales and the slightly higher price, Toyota is showing little concern about selling Priuses. Actually, Toyota had only 3 days of provide of Toyota Prius in mid September.

In the fourth quarter of 2009 the supply might get even thinner, as the company plans to pay out $1 billion on marketing. That spend is more than 40 percent of the carmaker would typically spend in the quarter. The campaign will contain funding for more incentives and advertising, while dealer will granting more higher profit margins. Irv Miller, the vice president for Toyota’s US sales unit, at a meeting with its dealers in Las Vegas said, “”We see the economy is starting to strengthen a bit, we’ve stopped playing defense. It’s time to go on the offense.”

A Family of Toyota Prius

Miller also said that Toyota plans to add more variants to Toyota Prius line up. He not describe when the timetable. For about two years, the company has hinted at the idea of a family of Priuses, ranging in size from compact to small sports utility or a wagon. The idea has been openly discussed first time in front of top Toyota brass and dealers in Las Vegas meeting.

One of the participants who attended the meeting said, “The Camry hybrid and Highlander hybrid do OK, but calling it ‘Synergy Drive’ never resonated with customers.” Stewart told to Automotive News that Prius it’s a magic name. When you tell anybody that you drive a Toyota Prius, everybody knows what you mean. Stewart said the Priuses will not be a separate sub-brand like Scion.

Additionally, Nikkei, the Japanese business daily report that Toyota plans to start in on commercial production of plug-in hybrids in 2012, and in the first year Toyota will producing between 20,000 and 30,000 units. Toyota expected to sell its plug-in hybrid for about $48,000. Toyota also enlarges its evaluation of plug-in hybrids by leasing five hundred of its third generation of Prius in Japan, the US, and the whole of Europe – government agencies and corporation.

The Main Reason Why Expanding Toyota Prius

The main reasons why Toyota expanding the Prius brand beyond one vehicle is to dominate global hybrid car market. The Ford Fusion Hybrid was marketed as a better more fuel-efficient alternative to the Toyota Camry Hybrid. And Honda is aiming for greater hybrid affordability with the Honda Insight and other future small hybrids. At the same time, a long list of established car companies—as well as a growing number of start-ups and Chinese manufacturers—have announced plans for electric and plug-in hybrids. Last week, BYD –Chinese auto company, said that it to overtake Toyota as the world’s largest automaker in about 15 years, using electric cars, hybrids and other plug-in cars as a key strategy.

2008 Hybrid Cars

Source: HybridCars.com

2010 Honda Insight Hybrid

2010 Honda Insight HybridHonda Motor Co. selling the 2010 Honda Insight hybrid in Japan starting at ¥1,890,000 (~US$21,100)-the cheapest hybrid cars. The 2010 Honda Insight hybrid utilizing the fifth generation of Honda’s Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) hybrid technology and new, more cost-efficient production methods, the 2010 Honda Insight hybrid offers an estimated EPA city/highway/combined fuel-economy rating of 40/43/41 miles per gallon US. Honda projects that the 2010 Honda Insight Hybrid will carry a CARB AT-PZEV emission rating.

evolution-of-honda-insight

evolution of honda insight hybrid

Evoking the aerodynamic five-door sedan design first deployed on the FCX Clarity fuel cell car, the new 2010 Honda Insight Hybrid has a low center of gravity and seats five.

2010 Honda Insight Hybrid combines a 1.3-liter SOHC aluminum-alloy i-VTEC engine and CVT, with a new generation of Honda’s IMA hybrid system. The Insight’s IMA system includes a 10 kW (13 hp) electric motor that delivers 68 lb-ft (92 Nm) of torque and a compact Intelligent Power Unit (IPU) consisting of a 5.75 Ah, 100.8V NiMH battery pack, Power Control Unit (PCU), motor Electric Control Unit (ECU), and cooling system.

Combined output and overall torque of the engine and motor is 98 hp (73 kW) @ 5,800 rpm, with max torque of 123 lb-ft (167 Nm) @ 1,000-1,500 rpm.To further support fuel-efficient driving, the Insight features the Ecological Drive Assist System (Eco Assist) as standard equipment on all models.

The strength of the Insight is the value it brings because of its pricing.  And as the cheapest hybrid, Honda may take over the hybrid car market.

The 2010 Honda Insight Hybrid car made its world debut at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January and goes on sale in the US in April 2009.

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Integrated Motor Assist: Unveils Hybrid Simplicity

Integrated Motor Assist or IMA is Honda’s hybrid auto technology, released in 1999 on the Honda Insight. It’s a particular implementation of the parallel hybrid car. This utilizes an electrical motor installed between the Internal Combustion Engine and also transmission to behave like an engine balancer, starter motor, and also aid grip motor. In the first generation, IMA couldn’t power the vehicle on electrical energy entirely, and might only utilize the motor to help or start the actual engine.

Integrated Motor Assist History

Integrated Motor Assist

Integrated Motor Assist

The 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid, nevertheless, can activate the electrical motor even though the auto is coasting with out turning the internal combustion engine along, although contrary to Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive or perhaps GM and also DaimlerChrysler’s Global Hybrid Cooperation, the Integrated Motor Assist features a to a lesser extent powerful motor generator that allows the vehicle to be able to slow or stop it’s charge per unit associated with deceleration to a lesser extent; it wouldn’t operate on without having turning on the engine which can be straight linked to it’s electric motor.

The idea behind IMA is to apply regenerative braking to be able to recapture a few of the energy missed through deceleration, and also reprocess which energy later to aid speed up the automobile. This has 2 effects: it increases the pace of speedup, plus it reduces the work required from the gasoline engine. The speedup rise is very important because it enables the engine being scaled as a result of a smaller but to a greater extent fuel efficient variant without having rendition the automobile excessively slow or even weak. This smaller engine will be the primary reason vehicles built with IMA improve highway fuel consumption rate than their more traditional counterparts.

Additionally, automobiles built with IMA can shut off their own engine if the auto stops and use the electrical motor to be able to quickly spin it back up once the driver emits the brake foot pedal. There is also a standard starter like a backup, which makes it the only output hybrid system which could operate using its high voltage electric system disabled, only using it’s engine just like a conventional vehicle. Nevertheless, because the IMA also works since the automobile’s alternator, finally the 12 Volt accessory assault and battery might require another charge.

Honda Insight and Integrated Motor Assist

Coming from 1999 to 2006, Honda Insight relied on Integrated Motor Assist system from Honda. The Integrated Motor Assist system assisted the electrical motor to perform start and stop sequences using the accelerator engine throughout sealed driving weather condition. This technique besides kept the hybrid battery charged aside turn the engine in to a generator.

The Honda Hybrid still utilizes the Integrated Motor Assist system; however it experienced a couple of improvements which are based in the up-to-date model. The Honda Insight can perform 40 miles per gallon in the city and also 43 mpg on the highway. The combined fuel consumption rate is 41 mpg.

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Toyota Prius and Honda Insight Hybrids Earn the Top Safety Pick Award

This is good news for hybrids lover. According to Insurance Institute for Highway Safety or IIHS which announced the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight to get Top Safety Pick award based on front, side, and rear crash testing. This award makes a clear statement that hybrids not just fuel efficient but can also get high level of safety too.

Toyota Prius on all its model and Honda Insight on the Insight EX and LX models has requirements to earn the IIHS Top Safety Pick award. Prius and Insight has good ratings in ratings in all three tests (front, side, and rear crash testing) and offer electronic stability control too.

Prius Crash Test

The Toyota Prius Hybrid has an average efficiency rating of 51 mpg, this rating make it as the most fuel efficient vehicle on the market today. The Honda Insight has a combined city and highway rating of 41 mpg.

The IIHS’s side test simulates a crash with a pickup truck or SUV going at 31 mph. The frontal test they use vehicle that have same weight as the test car and moving at 0 mph. The insurance group also simulates a stationary vehicle being rear-ended by a car moving at 20 mph. The test result tell us that the side crash test results apply no matter what size cars we are comparing, but in the front crash test results are meaningful only when you using the same weight comparing models.

In the Honda Insight’s front crash test, the side curtain air bag prevented the dummy’s head from any hitting structures, although there was a risk of rib fractures in the side impact test – but the risk is slightly. In the Toyota Prius’s frontal test, the driver’s head hit the pillar (but the impact was relatively low) between the back and the front windows. The driver dummy’s head suffered slightly more on an impact when the car hit the steering wheel though the air bag.

The video of 2009 Toyota Prius crash test

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