It’s a special kind of stupid

CNN/Money reports,

A first: Lincoln hybrid costs the same as a gas-only car

Really? The cost is the same? Or do they mean retail price? And I’m not just nitpicking here. Ostensibly, CNN/Money is a financial news service and one might reasonably make the presumption that a financial news organization would be in tune with costs versus retail price.

But let’s dig further.

The sticker price will be $35,180 — exactly the same as the non-hybrid version of the car.

So it is retail price, not necessarily “cost”. Ok, cleared that one. It’s just the headline which is stupid. Or is it?

Hybrid cars generally cost considerably more than non-hybrid versions of the same car. In many cases the extra cost of the car can cancel out what the owner saves on gas.

Over the years here we’ve been down this road so many times that I would think most news organs would just avoid this. Yet, here it is again. The old trope that hybrids cost so much more than “regular” cars. Not true and not true.

The rest of the article isn’t much better. It’s basically press release and some mindless rumblings from, oh god save me, an analyst.

Here’s my take on it. Ford probably makes a decent amount on the MKZ. If not, they’d be GM. So the idea that they’re giving a few points in profit to price these cars equivalently isn’t a big deal. In fact, said analyst says,

It’s not unheard of for a hybrid and non-hybrid versions of a car to be priced close to one another, Toprak said, but not exactly the same and not in the luxury market.

So aside from refuting the earlier part of their story, this analyst says something I don’t get at all. While it may not be standard practice in the luxury market, that sector is the one that can most easily absorb this kind of strategy because of the higher retail prices and the larger profit margins. That’s kind of obvious, no?

I guess not.

Episode #25 of What Drives Us is now available

Simply go here.

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Awesome all EV episode this week.

And you may ask yourself, where the hell have you been?

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been here.

And please, tell a friend.

Uh, it’s news, well, sorta

Motor Trend is reporting, based on what is obviously a Japanese magazine, that Toyota is in the final stages if developing the first vehicle in the “expanded Prius range”. Here’s a picture as posted on Motor Trend:

Motor Trend reports that this is the Prius “Alpha” and it will be twelve inches longer and one inch wider than the current generation of Prius. MT calls this a “mini-mini-van” which seems ridiculous. I think it’s misleading in that minivans have sliding side doors and this one does not appear to (at least what we can see from the picture). Expanded Prius. Whatever. Prius max. Ok, if you have to. But it’s highly dubious to think that you can stuff an extra row of seat into a space twelve inches long and have no door to access them.

Further, for some reason Motor Trend has mixed in pictures of another Prius concept vehicle with no real explanation why other than both the “new” vehicles look somewhat like a Prius but none of them look like each other. I guess running with only one shot made them feel somehow inadequate.

MT is also reporting that this new Prius will be equipped with Lion cells rather than the Nihms Toyota has been using.

As usual, I’m skeptical. One thing I’ve learned in writing here for more than five years is that Toyota plays things very close to the vest and only releases information when they want to. All too often idle speculation turns out to be, well, idle speculation. Look, there’s a reason this stuff gets published on MT’s blog on not on their front page. This way, it’s easily deniable if it turns out to be a badly translated story from a Japanese car mag.

UPDATE: I don’t want to convey the idea that I think this won’t happen. I just think MT didn’t or couldn’t dig into this more to get us the real information. I think this story, like so many others, probably has some grains of truth and certainly contains some will-to-believe. Which is which I can’t say. I think the one photo of the proposed vehicle is compelling but after that there seems, to me, to be a great deal of speculation taking place. I do think, in general, that it would a great idea for Toyota to add a larger vehicle to the “Prius family” just as I can imagine a few cool additions to the “family”. In the end, what I think matters a lot less than what Toyota does.

Don’t you wish they were a publicly traded company?

Toyota announced today that it would be buying a $50M stake in Tesla, producers of the only highway capable EV on the market (it’s also one of the quickest vehicles on the planet). Toyota will turn over it’s recently closed NUMMI plant in the San Francisco bay area to produce Tesla’s new Model S roadster, due out in 2012.

Needless to say, this is huge news. Game changing news. On the What Drives Us podcast I’ve been flailing Toyota for seemingly allowing other (Nissan and Chevy) to take the lead in EVs (yes, yes, I know the Volt is a hybrid, sort of). With this partnership Toyota leapfrogs both companies partnering with the only company on Earth to make a viable EV.

The NUMMI plant is capable of producing as many as 200,000 vehicle per year, which for Tesla is a huge boon as they have previously been trying to buy empty buildings down in LA to make the Model S. Now, with the NUMMI plant and Toyota’s engineering (and Toyota’s cash), Tesla is positioned (as is Toyota) to become a multi-model EV leader in the next 18 months.

Toyota announced plans to work on as many as three cars together. They did not specifically say if they would all be Tesla branded or Toyota branded. That said, I know one podcast co-host who is wetting his pants contemplating a Toyota Spyder EV co-produced Tesla. Just sayin.

Congratulations to Tesla and to Toyota. In the end, it’s the car buyers who will win if they can combine the best from both companies and make killer EVs.

More on the Prius PHV

I just got back from California where I had a chance to drive the prototype Prius PHV. Check out the latest episode of What Drives Us for a detailed review of my experiences and impressions from other Prius Experts.

Are you interested in hearing the very first driving impressions of the prototype Prius PHV?

Well then, all you need do is click here and listen to Episode #12 of What Drives Us where I debrief Mr. Cooper in the midst of his secret driving experience. Reporting from a mostly undisclosed location somewhere inside the Torrey Pines Lodge in San Diego, my co-host, Danny Cooper and I talk about his experience driving the prototype Prius PHV.

It’s a great hour. Check it out. Right here.

Prius PHEV

(photograph courtesy of Toyota)

Earlier today Toyota unveiled the Prius PHEV within the confines of the tony Torrey Pines Lodge in San Diego. An exclusive list of invited media attended and had a chance to drive the PHV as well as participate in some seminars on “sustainability”. Festivities continue through tomorrow so I imagine the news stories will start flowing between now and then as it appears Toyota has not embargoed driving impressions of the new Prius (somewhat surprising).

Here’s Toyota’s FAQ on the Prius PHV.

While I languish at POG HQ here in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, my partner in crime, Danny Cooper of priuschat.com and co-host of What Drives Us is out there suffering through San Diego weather and what is surely an onslaught of underpriced media dinners. So, that means a full report on this week’s What Drives Us which should hit the streets in the next day or so (once we get this week’s podcast done). And yes, the What Drives Us take on the Prius PHV will be the definitive one. I would put forth that we might be only two reviewers who also own 2010 Prius (since the PHV is based on the 2010 Prius).

Check back soon and hear me grill Danny on the new PHV and whether or not he was able to sneak off to In-N-Out (it’s only a few miles down the road from your hotel Danny!).

Do you have an iPad?

If you do then maybe I have a new desktop for you…

You can browse the entire gallery here.

A different vision of performance

An Editorial:

The Daily Telegraph says a lot of good things and stupid things. This one falls into the latter category:

‘Top Gear effect’ blamed for environmentally unfriendly image of motorsports

Look, I love Top Gear but it’s a TV show and all which that implies. It’s sometimes silly and shallow. It’s sometimes quite stupid. It is however, frequently entertaining, something which more TV shows could look into.

And with all that said, Top Gear isn’t the problem. It’s “motorsports” which are the problem. Let’s be realistic. Motorsports are defined as sports with motors in them, and by that I mean, gasoline motors, often, large, loud, polluting, fuel inefficient motors. It’s the way the genre has been defined for generations. Top Gear is hardly to blame for this.

And while I’ll leave the main blame laying to others I’ll tell you who I think is also to blame for this, many of us eco-driving warriors, that’s who.

Look, cars, motorcycles and the lot are fun. They are. You can do all sorts of exciting things with them and people do. They drive them in circles really fast. They drive over exciting and challenging dirt surfaces. They drive them in marathons. They crash them into each other. They do things with vehicles that are exciting, for many people, to watch.

What have we, the alt-car crowd come up?

MPG challenges.

Seriously. That’s our contribution to motorsports.

Why aren’t having fun with fuel efficient cars? Why aren’t coming up with exciting new ways to compete in vehicles that aren’t necessarily wasting inordinate amounts of fuel and creating enormous clouds of oil tinged pollution? What have we done to change the existing paradigm? Nothing. Well, very little.

It’s partially our fault the public thinks fuel efficient cars (and EVs and electric scooters…) are boring because that’s all we shown them. We can drive them slow, we can compete saving fuel. Chess is exciting in comparison. And don’t get me wrong, MPG Challenges are fun (for some of us). I’ve been to more than a few but frankly, it’s never going to be a widespread phenomena and for good reason.

It is incumbent upon us, the fuel efficient, low pollution devotees to come up with something less environmentally disastrous than the Daytona 500 and slightly more exciting than watching corn grow. I think we can do it if we try.

One of the most fun things I saw at the Tour del Sol in 2006 was the autocross competition amongst the vehicles there (EV’s, biodiesel, hybrids and whatnot). That was fun. It was relatively low impact and it was a chance to use those vehicles in ways most people never consider. Why aren’t we, we being the green car community, doing more things like that? Why aren’t we sponsoring efficiency contests that not only reward MPG but add in a real life element, time. If all you are doing is managing your MPG chances are, you’re a road hazard. However, if you had to do that and stay within a realistic time bracket, suddenly your skills must be a bit more attuned to, dare I suggest, the real world? The world most people live in? I’d like to see more rally style competitions where timing and efficiency are the point. Rewarding only efficiency is too narrow. There’s no reason why we can’t organize fun rallies that aren’t tortoise versus tortoise competitions. Car clubs do it all the time.

And I don’t mean to limit these competitions by other traditional definitions. Why doesn’t a car company who is often proud that so many of their older vehicles are on the road honor that more tangibly? Yes, building a great car is the main point but again, we’re talking about changing paradigms here. For most of my life I was a devoted Volvo owner (until I bought my very first new car, my 2005 Prius). Volvo has a wonderful program whereby they send very nicely done metal plaques to owners of Volvo who have clocked over 100,000 miles. They also do it for 250K and 500K. What a great program, rewarding and recognized longevity. And while this isn’t exactly related to what I am discussing here, it is outside the “norm” when we think about cars. It’s this kind of thinking that we need to engage in.

I’ve always wanted to put one of these logos on my Prius. Why? Well, I love the idea that TRD isn’t just about bigger, louder, faster. I love the idea that anything can be “raced”. A great driver can compete, in any number of ways, in any vehicle. So yes, right now I love the TRD logo that isn’t (but should be) on my Prius because it’s kind of ridiculous. But I also love it for what it could represent, a rebellion against the louder, faster, bigger and towards something else. A whole new definition of performance that isn’t so narrowly defined.

Which brings me to the final bit of finger-pointing, I’m going lay part of the blame one other place. The car companies. All of them. They spend tens of millions of dollars supporting motorsports as they exist now. They have, as much as anyone else, created the paradigm that bigger, louder, faster and gas-hoggier is better. It’s time they diverted a small amount of that money in a different direction. It’s time for, especially the companies for whom fuel efficiency is a major selling point (Yes, my dear friends in Torrance, I’m talking to you) to invest some small part of what they pump into F1, NASCAR and all the rest helping to build a new paradigm. A paradigm which, I would hasten top point out, supports their long term business model much better than NASCAR or Formula One. This won’t be changed overnight. It will take decades but now is the time to help the pioneers reshape the perception of the personal transportation device, help people who are trying to reframe the conversation away from horsepower and torque to one where agility, efficiency and versatility are more important. You can do it. After all, you built the existing motorsports model. Imagine in fifty years people looking back with a whole new view of “motorsports” and seeing what we could do today as groundbreaking. Now that’s exciting. If we do it.

What Drives Us Episode #9 for March 26, 2010

What Drives Us Episode #9 for March 26th, 2010

This week Danny and Russell welcome back Evan Fusco and Tony Schaefer. They discuss a wide range of news topics from three new Porsche hybrids (one of which goes 98MPH in EV mode) to pay in American factories. Visit www.whatdrives.us to learn more and please visit become of the fan of the podcast on facebook: www.facebook.com/whatdrivesus As always, thanks very much for downloading What Drives Us.

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Want to see Toyota’s future

It’s right here.

A nice site featuring all their EV/PHEV concept vehicles.