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Autoblog Minute: New Prius, Bentley Bentyaga, Rolls-Royce Dawn

Bentley and Rolls-Royce both introduce new luxury vehicles and Toyota revealed its latest Prius. Autoblog senior editor Greg Migliore reports on the Weekly Recap edition of Autoblog Minute. Show full video transcript text [00:00:00] Bentley and Rolls-Royce both introduce new luxury vehicles and Toyota revealed its latest Prius I'm Senior editor Greg Migliore and this is your Autoblog Minute Weekly Recap. With a top speed of 187 mph Bentyaga will be the fastest production SUV on the road when it hits the market. Eventually, Bentley intends to launch a seven-seat version, a higher performance Speed model, and more efficient diesel and hybrid variants of its new luxury SUV. Dawn is the new four seater convertible from Rolls-Royce. While the car looks to the past for its name it boasts lots of modern tech including Rolls-Royce's Zed F eight-speed automatic transmission for imperceptible gear changes and a silently operating, six layer, canvas top. The launch of Toyota's latest Prius marks the fourth generation of the popular hybrid. Prius has gone from a niche product to one of the industry's most important vehicles. Toyota hopes its new Prius will redefine the category it helped to pioneer. We're expecting fuel economy to increase by 10 percent and this is the most tech laden Prius ever. Those are the highlights from the week that was. Be sure to check out my full recap this Saturday. Plus, some insight on the new Cadillac XT5. For Autoblog, I'm Greg Migliore. Autoblog Minute is a short-form video news series reporting on all things automotive. Each segment offers a quick and clear picture of what's happening in the automotive industry from the perspective of Autoblog's expert editorial staff, auto executives, and industry professionals. Bentley Rolls-Royce Toyota Convertible SUV Hybrid Autoblog Minute Videos Original Video rolls-royce dawn

Toyota says freezing temps pose zero problems for fuel cell vehicles

Hydrogen-powered fuel cell electric vehicles are not afraid of one thing – freezing cold weather. That's the latest from two companies that have been driving the cars in frostbite temperatures in the Northeast recently. Proton Onsite runs a fleet of 10 Toyota FCHV-adv fuel cell vehicles out of its Connecticut headquarters and discovered that the snow and three-degree temperature didn't restrict range. Mark Schiller, Proton vice president of business development, said in a statement that, "I went out to my Toyota FCHV-adv and brushed off a foot of snow before starting the car right up. No problem." While electric vehicles can have their driving range reduced in extreme temperatures (but not always), Proton Onsite hasn't seen that happen in the Polar Vortex. They're performing flawlessly in freezing temperatures even with the heaters blasting, and are continuing to hit their range of about 300 miles, Schiller said. Air Products, based on Allentown, PA, has had a similar experience. The FCHV-adv has had great performance under harsh conditions, according to Nick Mittica, commercial manager, hydrogen energy systems. Employees drove the fuel cell vehicle during one of Pennsylvania's worst winters in recent memory and, you guessed it, "No problem." Toyota says that has put its fuel cell fleet through the wringer, logging millions of miles over the last decade, to make sure performance can be delivered within extreme weather conditions. Toyota engineers spent weeks testing cold weather start up, performance and durability up in Yellowknife, Canada. Temperature can reach -30 degrees Celsius (-22 degrees Fahrenheit) at that location. On other end of the scale, Toyota was able to verify that its FCVs can handle driving through heat in Death Valley national park. We heard the same from Mercedes the other day, too. Extreme weather functionality is apparently something automakers want to make absolutely sure the public doesn't worry about. Jan. 30, 2014 – Record low temperatures have stranded many East Coast drivers, but not those driving a Toyota fuel cell hybrid vehicle. Connecticut-based Proton Onsite, which operates a fleet of ten Toyota FCHV-adv fuel cell vehicles, says that even in single digit temperatures, the FCHV-adv shows no signs of frostbite. "We had another snow storm Tuesday night and this morning the temperature was 3 degrees," says Mark Schiller, Proton vice president of business development.

Vehicles awarded IIHS Top Safety Pick awards skyrockets for 2015 [w/video]

By practically every measure, passenger vehicles in the US are continuing to get safer. With the year rapidly coming to an end, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is releasing its annual list tallying of the scores for the latest vehicles to see how they compare to last year. Judging by the agency's evaluations, the numbers look quite positive. According to the institute, 71 vehicles earned either the Top Safety Pick or Top Safety Pick+ rating so far in its testing for 2015. Among the latest winners, there have been 33 TSP+ awards and 38 TSP medalists. That's a healthy increase over the 22 TSP+ and 17 TSP grades in 2014. The figures appear even more impressive when you consider that it keeps getting harder to earn the + designation. In the latest round of testing, a vehicle must offer some form of front crash prevention automatic braking to get the mark. Previously, just a warning to drivers was necessary. This list also illustrates the ways that automakers adapt to new testing procedures. In 2013 there were 117 TSP ratings and 13 TSP+ awards. Then, the IIHS mandated that to be a safety pick, a model had to score Good in the institute's four crash tests, plus a Good or Acceptable in the small overlap front test. That brought a plunge in 2014 to just 17 TSP grades. With the numbers climbing again, companies apparently have deciphered how to perform better. Some brands especially stood out on this year's list. The IIHS praised Volvo, Mercedes-Benz and Acura for offering standard front crash prevention systems on some models. Subaru received at least one of the awards for all seven of its models. Toyota also had seven, and the Honda brand did too – though the institute counts the two- and four-door versions of the Civic and Accord separately. Check out the full announcement below and a video about this year's winners. The full list can be viewed, here. Safety gains ground: More vehicles earn top honors from IIHS The number of vehicles earning either of the Institute's two awards has jumped to 71 from 39 this time last year, giving consumers more choices for optimum protection in crashes. The number of winners in the top tier - TOP SAFETY PICK+ - has increased by 11 for 2015, despite a tougher standard for front crash prevention. "This is the third year in a row that we are giving automakers a tougher challenge to meet," says IIHS President Adrian Lund.