No Reserve_4x4_manual_sr5_tool Box_cold A/c_good Tires_ready For A New Owner____ on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Toyota NA CEO says his excitement for hydrogen sedan is rising

Toyota has an undeniable vested interest in seeing its hydrogen sedan succeed when it goes on sale in the US next year, so it's no surprise that the company's North American CEO, Jim Lentz, says that he's got more hope for the car now than ever before. And if we remember ways that others in the company, like Bob Carter, have loudly sung hydrogen's praises, we have to assume that positivity is running awful high in Torrance. In fact, Lentz said that the US side of the company is far more excited by the H2 car than colleagues in Japan. Speaking at The Wall Street Journal's ECO:nomics conference in Santa Barbara, CA this week, Lentz said: After we've seen the product, understand its range, its driving dynamics, its refueling, we're a lot more bullish than Japan - probably about fivefold more bullish. It's just a question of how many can be produced now. Well, we've driven this car, and we still feel that Toyota is placing a big bet on the technology. One important issue is cost, but Lentz would not say exactly how much the car costs to make or what it will be priced at. He did say, though, that the production cost has dropped by 95 percent from the $1 million price tag the car wore ten years ago. That hints at a production cost of around $50,000. Lentz also said he thinks it will take at least a decade for hydrogen vehicles to hit sales of 500,000 per year in the US. Speaking to Bloomberg, he said: Their acceptance could get off to a quicker start than the hybrids did. I think you're going to see a lot more marketing of the concept of fuel cell much sooner than you did for hybrids, because basically the whole industry is behind it.

Toyota will roll out solid-state battery EVs globally in a couple of years

GANDHINAGAR, India — Japan's Toyota Motor will in a couple of years globally launch vehicles with solid-state batteries that charge faster and last longer, an executive said on Thursday at an investment summit in India. Solid-state batteries promise to dramatically improve the driving range of electric vehicles (EVs), a key element of a strategic pivot Toyota unveiled in June to make up ground lost to Tesla and Chinese rivals, such as BYD, in the EV race. Last year, Toyota and oil refiner Idemitsu Kosan said they would tie up to develop and mass produce all-solid-state batteries, which they aim to commercialize in 2027 and 2028, followed by full-scale mass production. "We will be rolling out our electric vehicles with solid state batteries in a couple of years from now," said Vikram Gulati, the India head of Toyota Kirloskar Motor. It "will be a vehicle which will be charging in 10 minutes, giving a range of 1,200 kms (750 miles) and life expectancy will be very good". Gulati was speaking at the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit where one focus of the Indian government is attracting more investments to scale up EV manufacturing capacity in the world's third largest auto market. At the start of the summit on Wednesday, Japan's Suzuki Motor said its Indian subsidiary and Toyota partner Maruti Suzuki would export the group's first battery EV to Japan and Europe — marking the first time for Maruti to export to its parent company's home country. Electric models made up around 2% of India's car sales last year, but the government is targeting 30% by 2030 and India's road transport minister said at the summit he sees annual EV sales in India reaching 10 million vehicles by 2030. On Toyota's plans for solid-state batteries in India, Gulati said the carmaker had various sustainable technology options that would differ based on the country, market and customer preferences. "Right now, for India, flex fuel and ethanol can be a no-brainer right away," he added India's trade department has backed lowering taxes on hybrid vehicles to help the transition to cleaner energy sources, following demands by Japanese carmakers, Reuters has reported. Gulati said the Indian government should consider a carbon-based tax structure for cars, which would make it technologically agnostic and more equitable.  Green Lexus Suzuki Toyota Electric

Toyota GT86 turbo, convertible, sedan variants back on the table

Okay Toyota, make up your mind. Figure it out. Quit playing games with our heart. Either build a bunch of variations of the excellent GT86 (also known as the Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ) or don't. At this point, we're just tired of the back and forth. After no shortage of denials, an Australian website is claiming that Toyota is reconsidering convertible, four-door, turbocharged and all-wheel-drive hybrid variants of the GT86. Kindly pass all the salt.
It's not that we don't want to believe the Aussies; we do. But when the story lists the same "sources in Japan" as a lot of the other denials and confirmations about GT86/BRZ/FR-S variants, well, there's a certain sense of the "Boy That Cried Wolf," here. Ignoring all that, then, what does Motoring.com.au claim to know?
Sources claim the GT86 Convertible will arrive in October 2014, while the turbocharged and hybrid sedans are slated for 2016.