Toyota Prius Vehicles | History of Toyota Prius Hybrid
By admin | August 13, 2007
As I begin my research into the history of hybrid cars, it appears that it all started in 1993 when Toyata began working on the car that became the most popular hybrid today - the Prius. You can read all of the details in an article here, where after several years of problems and corrections, Toyota unveiled the Prius in October of 1997 in Japan. Three months later the Prius went on sale.
It wasn’t until the summer of 2000 that the Prius made its debut in the United States, a full seven months behind the first-to-market Honda Insight. The price of the first available U.S. version of the Prius (as a 2001 model rollout) was about $20,000, and 12,000 were sold to the first 37,000 interested buyers who had preregistered on a special Toyota website.
In 2003, Toyota released the second-generation Prius in the U.S. With it’s unique hatchback style, more powerful engine, better fuel economy, and reduced emissions - sales soared.  54,000 Prius vehicles were sold in 2004 and 108,000 sold in 2005. Prius had made it, and was one of the most popular cars on the market.
U.S. sales of hybrid vehicles rose another 28% from 2005 to 2006, with consumers buying over 250,000 hybrids…105,000 of those were Toyota Prius vehicles. In 2007, Prius sales in the U.S. are expected to exceed 175,000. 2008 Prius are set to hit dealer lots this month (August 2007) with a base sticker price similar to last year at $26,000. Already, thousands of people are searching for the totally redesigned 2009 Prius as well. The Toyota Prius will be on my short list, as my 2007 hybrid journey continues!
 photo courtesy of CNET
Topics: Toyota | 2 Comments »
Hybrid Cars - The Journey Begins in 2007!
By admin | August 12, 2007
Hybrid cars have been in the United States for several years now, but I’m just beginning to take notice as I hear more and more about energy conservation, global warming, pollution, emmision standards, and other news related to the environment. In addition, gas prices have been all over the place during the past couple of years. Just a few weeks ago, gas in central Iowa was about $3.20 per gallon (it has dropped back down to about $2.60 since then) and fuel economy has been on my mind. Our family currently owns a 1999 Lexus RX300 and 2003 Honda CRV. These vehicles average about 20 miles per gallon, which is about half of what we might expect from a hybrid car.
About 3-4 months ago, I began researching hybrids and decided to chronicle my journey toward buying my first hybrid suv or car. I’ve probably bought and sold around 25 cars, trucks, and sport utility vehicles over the past 20 years - but this will be my first hybrid. Of those 25 cars, 22 of them have been used cars…so depending on what’s available when I’ve made my decision as to which hybrid to buy, there’s a good chance it will be a pre-owned hybrid vehicle of some type. The past 5 vehicles I’ve purchased have all been suv’s, mainly because I prefer all wheel drive models. I believe there are currently 3-4 hybrid suvs on the market (hybrid escape, hybrid highlander, hybrid lexus, and a hybrid saturn vue). Looks like several more are coming as well.
In addition to this site being created to keep track of my journey toward buying my first hybrid, I also plan to make it a resource for other people who are also interested in hybrids.  I will create an area of the site to compare hybrid models, a section about the latest hybrid news, and a guide to how hybrid cars work. I’d also like to start a hybrid forum and eventually an area to highlight many of the new hybrid vehicles that may be coming to market (such as a hybrid semi truck, a hybrid rv, a hybrid combine and much more). I believe hybrids are going to change our lives in so many ways. Let the journey begin!
Topics: Hybrid Journey | 2 Comments »
Hybrid Cars Website Launches at Hybrids.cc
By admin | August 9, 2007
It’s official…hybrids.cc is now Live!
Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »
