*VIDEOS added -TOYOTA New Technology is Amazing ! 2012 Vehicles

[Retropin]

Ok...looked it up,

Car runs on a dual motor system, both electric and petrol... seems the car can cruise for short distances on electric alone and at slow speeds. When acceleration is required.. petrol kicks in and at speed. The innovation in the charging of the battery is that it is still being charged when braking.

So both engines run concurrently and although there are no real figures of speeds achieved, its pretty safe to assume that the first say 20kmph would be electric and thereafter is petrol driven. Battery can only charge when its being petrol driven, so the movement of the car alone is not enough to sustain battery power..... battery requires more energy in than it can output
But an obvious saving on fuel here.
Battery is warranted for 160,000klm or 8 years.

Not the sort of car id want to have to take to the mechanics at my own cost though... bet that friggin hurts!

[Caveoftreasures]

Guys, I hear what you are saying but I have to completely and respectfully disagree with you on most points. The Toyota statistics dont lie, and I have driven the car. Toyota has sold millions of these vehicles, and now all of the camry range are hybrid equipped as well for those who want to order that way.
Also, with a 8 yr battery warranty, a extended 220,000 klm or 5 yr warranty, it would never cost me a cent except fixed price servicing.
Some people just dont like accepting new technology and that is Ok, but I have accepted it based on the facts alone and on driving the vehicle as well as reading various independant wite ups on the new Toyota Hybrid technology, and all the ones I have read say completely the opposite and this technology is both proven and acknowledged by the car industry. I have to go with that and my own research.

The Atkins cycle motor is something very different to a normal motor and the car doesnt even have a normal gearbox like any std car. Realistically, it is a gearless gearbox without the std 1st to 4th gears with overdrive. It is something completely different, being a one gear variable drive box, very intelligent and ultra modern. I also note, Toyota hasnt released a bad car for 20 yrs and are known for bulletproof cars and are probably the worlds most reliable manufacturer.

I also note, that Taxi companies dont change over 3,000 cars to this Toyota Hybrid technology unless they are certain it is a financial winner, and thats what they are doing in Brisbane and the Gold Coast. When i flew to Sydney recently, I caught a brand new Toyota Camry Hybrid vehicle from the airport, and the driver/owner loved it and said all the taxis in sydney were also going that way. The driver/owner fellow said even LPG vehicles were now dinosaurs etc and the hybrid camry's were cheaper to run and even more reliable.

Anyway, this isnt a thread to bag the hell out of Toyota or Hybrid vehicles, It was supposed to be a positive one to share something that more and more people are moving into. I am sure when the first I.Pad was released alot of people bagged it etc, but it now has become the norm. These hybrid cars are now becoming the norm with all manufacturers moving into that technology. The USA is the same.
Also, you can drive alot faster than 20 miles per hour on the battery motor alone. I was doing apx 60 klms and the petrol motor hadnt kicked in at all.
A personal drive of the new 2012 vehicles are the way to go, otherwise it is all guessing. Anyway, I think these cars are excellent and I totally love this new technology.  Each to their own. Its all good.

[Homepin]

"Toyota hasnt released a bad car for 20 yrs and are known for bulletproof cars and are probably the worlds most reliable manufacturer"

Cavey please WAKE UP!

Toyota KILLED dozens of their customers as recently as last year....yes, KILLED them with a fault in their cars that they have NEVER disclosed......

Toyota is a shonky company that make shonky cars that are bland and UNSAFE! How they have hoodwinked people like you makes me totally amazed.

Don't believe me - do your own Googling - you might just change your mind about Toyota 'ethics'….

QUOTE:

"Toyota withheld a key document from federal investigators probing electronic causes of unintended acceleration in the automaker's vehicles, reported CNN on Thursday."

According to internal documents obtained by the network's "Anderson Cooper 360," Toyota was aware of a cruise control issue on a pre-production car internally called the 250L which caused the vehicle to start moving forward on its own. "The cruise control activates by itself at full throttle when the accelerator pedal position sensor is abnormal,"


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/02/toyota-sudden-acceleration_n_1316597.html
http://www.caranddriver.com/features/how-to-deal-with-unintended-acceleration
http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/189181/1/Toyota-accelerator-goes-wild-kills-4-JWs-in-field-service

[Caveoftreasures]

yes i did hear of a stuff up which i thought was isolated to the usa and that vehicle build only.

the fact is that no one is perfect.  personally, i reckon toyota australia would be run better because our cars seem to have far less recalls.

i cant knock toyota australia because they have been world leader in number 1 position for many years and top seller in australia also for many many years.

i didnt think i could do better than that history etc.

anyway, i will take ya for a beer oneday mike and we will go in the hybrid.lol   I might change ya mind after ten beers mate.lol

its all good.

[pinnies4me]

I have reservations about Toyota's hybrid product for reasons mentioned here, the energy used to make these things, particularly the battery packs, seems to outweigh the good.

Now we have the Holden Volt - charge up overnight on 240 AC and drive to work and back on pure electricity - so in other words, lets burn more coal (that fires the turbines that generates our 240 AC) - so, to work and back on coal power - that's got to be good for the environment!

[Caveoftreasures]

Guys, have u seen how big the battery pack is in the Prius V Station wagon is ? I actually looked at one and Its smaller than a carton of beer and requires bugger all to make.
In actual fact it is now the lithium type. A hybrid car uses less than half of the petrol a normal car does, every day, every drive. I am not sure it could be argued the energy required to make one battery could possibly outweigh saving thousands of litres of petrol per year and the energy/polloution to make that fossill fuel. One battery versus thousands of litres of less used petrol/juice ! 

I have really investigated this new technology and spent 20 or 30 hours on it and think it would be premature for anyone to so easily write it off without that investigation time n energy like the time I have put into it. I just say keep an open mind cause it really is smart/latest technology that works. I will make a video after I get one,lol and maybe convince u guys later.  Remember the saved 4 to 5 grand a year on petrol means 2 x new pinnys. Does that help.lol

I know what u mean about the Chevvy Volt battery only car in the USA. I have watched a documentary about it. The battery only car only works well/becomes green etc if it is recharged on electricity from wind turbine/dam/solar power generated electricity. I am guessing one day that we all might plug our cars ionto our residentialroof solar panels, but thats probably 6 to 10 years away.

[Retropin]

Mate, im not writing it off, id just like to see some specs before declaring it the answer to road travel.

I looked it up on the official Toyota website..... there are no real figures there.... all it says is battery is used for " slow" speeds... you tell me 60Klm+... i hardly call that slow, so why so vague on the website?
IF it allows you to use 50% LESS fuel then id say that figure is something to shout about... problem is that they are NOT shouting about it and my instincts start to kick and and tell me there is a vital piece of information missing.

So we have cutting edge technology and piss poor marketing... or.... they are witholding figures to suit an agenda.

Sorry mate.. i hear you OK, but you are shouting louder than Toyota themselves and given your enthusiasm for Stern ACDC which you now want to sell, we can be forgiven for taking it all with a pinch of salt

[Caveoftreasures]

I just think it (their website marketing) is designed to get you into their dealerships. They hand out the 4.4 litres per 100 klms etc on the brochures i got when i went to the dealership etc, plus lots more handouts etc.

Dont worry about the Stern pinballs etc, I think the AC/DC machine is excellent. After i sell every other machine (apx 69 of them) the AC/DC will be the last machine sitting here and i will probably keep that one with my star trek voyager machine.

I dont mind anyone disagree-ing with me about the car (or anything for that matter) but sometimes its dis-heartening when people dont say much of anything positive at all and shoot down new ideas so easily without much investigating. Anyway, it doesnt matter, its only a idea i felt/feel positive about. Each to their own.

[Greg]

question

when buying/ recharging a hybrid product  is it Carbon tax free?...... and are you better off buying a stand alone /portable solar panel recharge station to take with you?

[pinballheaven]

Brett, if you like it buy it, we all have opinions based on knowledge/experience and/or ignorance.

I must say I am not a fan of "Hybrid" technology but some friends have them and most like them but they take some getting used to. My family is all BMW so I don't have a dog in this fight but time will tell if this technology is anything great.

Good luck with your search and decision.
 

[pinnies4me]

question

when buying/ recharging a hybrid product  is it Carbon tax free?...... and are you better off buying a stand alone /portable solar panel recharge station to take with you?

Always wondered why, if they are genuinely trying to be emission friendly, the roofs of these vehicles aren't solar panels so that they charge whenever they are out (and there's sun), or parked in the sun all day etc? Must be a reason? 

[Caveoftreasures]

probably so they can keep driving if it rains for 4 or 5 days, but you do raise a excellent point.
When u think about it, all cars could take alot of energy in from solar like u have said.
we all know just how hot it gets inside a car after leaving it in the carpark for an hour.

sometimes i think the oil companies own half of the car companies ?

[Olivia_jason]

question

when buying/ recharging a hybrid product  is it Carbon tax free?...... and are you better off buying a stand alone /portable solar panel recharge station to take with you?

Always wondered why, if they are genuinely trying to be emission friendly, the roofs of these vehicles aren't solar panels so that they charge whenever they are out (and there's sun), or parked in the sun all day etc? Must be a reason?  

cost maybe? but i do know there are even decals style solar systems, where it is like putting a decal down that is essentially a solar panel, i saw it once on a solar car where the entire car was just covered in solar panel instead of paint. crazy shit but you would think it would have some sort of solar charing station. imagine the electricity bill from the Holden volt charging that thing up every day. it would be a nightmare getting your fuel bill in 1/4 which it would be essentially like when you get your electricity bill in 1/4s. all these cars are fundamentally flawed imo

[Caveoftreasures]

Brett, if you like it buy it, we all have opinions based on knowledge/experience and/or ignorance.

I must say I am not a fan of "Hybrid" technology but some friends have them and most like them but they take some getting used to. My family is all BMW so I don't have a dog in this fight but time will tell if this technology is anything great.

Good luck with your search and decision.
 

thanks Jeff.
I must say, I am a huge fan of german cars. the germans make cars for their autobahns and u can sit on 180 or 200 all day, so its no surprise they build excellent motors, gearboxes n drive-lines. I am a sucker for mercedes benz cause its a little more conservative, but BMW definately make the best euro sports cars for sure.  driven a few, and they are real drivers cars. thats when u dont care about petrol at all, but having said that, the euro cars are very efficient already. beautiful cars.

[Retropin]

question

when buying/ recharging a hybrid product  is it Carbon tax free?...... and are you better off buying a stand alone /portable solar panel recharge station to take with you?

Always wondered why, if they are genuinely trying to be emission friendly, the roofs of these vehicles aren't solar panels so that they charge whenever they are out (and there's sun), or parked in the sun all day etc? Must be a reason? 

Yep.... not much making sense anywhere anymore... solar panels on a car would be ideal... car is a DC circuit, solar provides DC power. Instead they push solar for households which is AC power.
A car charges up pretty well when running and it only needs to retain enough power to turn the engine over at start, once thats achieved, the battery is pretty redundant.
The whole world is arse over tit.. ive got pictures from 1910 that show solar hot water systems on roofs... then it became cheap to burn fossil fuel so the solar technology was thrown out. Now its back and its research obtains very little Gov funding to increase the efficiency of the cells.. couple that with Gov incentives ending for installation of such items and you are left scratching your head to find the logical path.
I cant see how any of it makes sense.. we p;ay more for electricity so the CO2 emitters can buy permits to produce CO2... only a politician would see the sense in this and its mainly cos someone somewhere is making a good buck out of it. The turbines dont shut down when we have green hour... they keep running... the HAVE to keep running, so we are comitted to producing more power than is necessary, wether we use it or not is neither here nor there.
I did a project at TAFE some 10 years ago studying salt nitrate towers in USA... they have a solar farm that produces more than the community can consume... excess is stored in large nitrate towers that act like huge capacitors... its a great system!
Does Australia embrace any of these ideas? No.. its easier to continue digging coal and then punish the consumer for the power it produces.

Call me naiive, but i can only summise that mans contribution to climate change is negligable ( the world evolves naturally.. always has done and even Australia was once under a great ocean)... save the planet.. go green is a rue to extract more $$ from the people through fear and someone somewhere is making big dollars from it all.

Sometimes i think im going mad cos years ago im bloody sure we were heading for another ice age... McDonalds stopped using the plastic cartons etc and the world was healed... now we are heating up. Stop expecting me to keep extracting money from my arse... bring back the plastic carton and lets all get on with life again...LOL

Rant...Rant....