Prius Galore | Green Energy News

December 7, 2003 – Vol.8 No.37

PRIUS GALORE.

This editor felt honored this week to park his lowly conventional vehicle next to a brand new Prius in front of the home improvement store. This editor has a good eye for cars and has noted that quite a number of the newest hybrids are now prowling the streets of metropolitan Baltimore. And they blend in nicely with all the first generation Prius’s already here.

Toyota has a successful launch on its hands, so much so that it has announced that it will increase production to an annual rate of 47,000 units, a 31 percent increase. The company also says that it is prepared to ramp up production to an even higher rate if needed.

And in further news from Toyota, the company feels so comfortable with its hybrids that it will launch a hybrid version of its Highlander SUV later in 2004 and the Lexus RX 330 SUV Hybrid is ready for formal launch. Toyota has not announced fuel economy estimates for either vehicle, but does say that the Highlander hybrid will use Toyota’s Synergy Drive. Because of the size and weight of the Highlander, a guess is that a larger conventional engine and electric assist motor than in the Prius would be under the hood. Visit Toyota at http://www.toyota.com/ ,http://pressroom.toyota.com/.