Auto Blog Green has lots of great updates today - including their review of the EDTA Conference that’s currently taking place in Washington D.C. as well conference interviews with Argonne Lab’s Don Hillebrand and Honda VP Edward Cohen, and details on the IRS approving tax credits for Honda hybrid and natural gas vehicles.

Thinking of getting a 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid?  CNET gave it a “spectacular” nine out of ten and reviewed it and had this to say: “The 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid is a comfortable, well-appointed sedan, equipped with a bevy of technology, from the economical hybrid propulsion system to a raft of standard in-car devices, including a Bluetooth interface and a premium audio system.”  The only complaint being that its “optional GPS navigation unit struggles with voice commands and can lose its bearings when out of town. Alternating between power sources can lead to a jerky ride.”

Edmunds was happy with it too, saying they “came away impressed by the new Camry’s quiet and comfortable cabin, its high degree of interior and exterior build quality, and its overall refinement.”

The MSRP base price is $25900 and mileage of 43 mpg in the city and 38 mpg on the highway.

The EDTA (Electric Drive Transportation Association) expo starts today, with the main goal of finding federal funds to support electric drive.  This is probably why this year’s convention will be held in Washingto D.C.

Toyota is the main sponsor, and GM, GE, Lexus, Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai will be among the exhibitors, see EDTA for the full list. 

SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association), an organization that awards accessory-friendly vehicles, chose the Chevy Silverado Classic as best in hybrids.

According to SEMA’s recent press release, ”The Chevrolet Silverado Classic Hybrid — the first full-size production pickup to utilize hybrid technology — is also the first hybrid to be recognized as the most accessory friendly vehicle at the 2006 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, capturing one of four SEMA Vehicle Design Awards and becoming the benchmark in SEMA’s newest design award category.”

China has a lot of environmental issues, and the fact that Prius hybrid car sales are lagging is just one of them.  But it is still a disappointment that China’s wealthy are not embracing the hybrid. 

The Detroit News just reported on the issue: “When Toyota Motor Corp. announced two years ago that it would produce Prius hybrids in China, it seemed like a sure bet.”

“The air in China’s biggest cities is thick with pollution, and the government is pushing up taxes on gas guzzlers. China appeared to be an ideal market for Toyota’s gasoline-electric car. But sales of the Prius have been extremely disappointing.”

“‘We started with a target of 3,000 a year, but we’re running short of that,’ said Yoshimi Inaba, an executive vice president of Toyota and its top executive in China. Prius sales are currently running at around 100 a month, or less than half the rate required to meet the annual goal.”

“The Prius’s poor showing, an anomaly in Toyota’s otherwise dynamic performance in China, suggests that energy conservation is not a priority among China’s newly rich consumers.”

It doesn’t help that China offers no tax breaks or other benefits for hybrid owners, either.

Read the full article.

The EMA Awards, an event to promote environmental awareness, took place on November 8th and was presented by Toyota and Lexus.  Attendees included Col. Buzz Aldrin, Ed Begley, Jr., Flea, Daryl Hannah, Anthony Kiedis, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Graham Nash, Rob Schneider, David Spade, Jeffrey Tambor, and Robert Wagner.  Toyota had issued the following press release with information on the event:

Photo: Julia Lewis Dreyfus at EMA.

Toyota and Lexus Salute ‘Green’ Celebrities at the 16th Annual Environmental Media Awards

TORRANCE, Calif., Nov. 8 /PRNewswire/ — Toyota and Lexus are proud to
be Presenting Sponsors of the Environmental Media Awards. This star-studded
gala event recognizes the creative teams behind television, film and music
productions that raise public awareness of environmental issues by
incorporating positive environmental messages in their work. Previous
honorees include Daryl Hannah, Edward Norton, and Cameron Diaz, and
programs such as Grey’s Anatomy, The Simpsons, and Lilo & Stitch.

“Entertainment is a potent vehicle for raising awareness of
environmental issues,” said Dian Ogilvie, senior vice president and chief
environmental officer of Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. “The creative
teams who are honored with an Environmental Media Award are inspiring
people to think and act in ways that benefit our planet.”

Toyota, the world leader in hybrid technology, also provides a way for
people to act through an everyday choice: the vehicle they drive. Toyota
and Lexus combined offer five hybrid models in the United States in the
mid-sized sedan, SUV and sports car segments. In all, Toyota’s hybrid
vehicles have saved over 150 million gallons of gas in the United States,
and avoided more than 3 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions. Hybrid
sales are led by the Prius, which topped 500,000 worldwide in April. This
year alone, Toyota will sell more than 100,000 Prius in the U.S., which
features Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive.

Hybrid Synergy Drive is also featured on the Highlander Hybrid and the
Camry Hybrid which debuted in April. Both hybrids are over 70% percent
cleaner for smog-forming emissions than the average new vehicle on the
road. Camry Hybrids are built at Toyota’s manufacturing facility in
Georgetown Kentucky, Toyota’s first hybrid to be built in the U.S.

Last year, Lexus introduced the RX 400h, the world’s first luxury
hybrid. The RX 400h combines luxury, performance and cleaner emissions in a
sleek package. In April, Lexus launched the GS 450h hybrid luxury sports
sedan, the world’s first front-engine, rear-wheel full hybrid.

“Worldwide, Toyota plans to offer hybrid engines in many of our
products and we’ve set a goal of one million hybrids by 2010,” said Dian
Ogilvie. “We’ve made a very big commitment to this technology because it
gives people a way to drive what they want, but produce fewer emissions and
get higher fuel mileage at the same time.”

Toyota’s commitment to the environment goes beyond the hybrid story.
The company’s initiatives in North America include: recycling, reducing
landfill waste, conserving natural resources, using renewable energy, and
nurturing strong partnerships with organizations like the U.S. National
Parks Service, National Public Lands Day, National Arbor Day Foundation,
Audubon Society the American Lung Association, and EMA.

The Environmental Media Association is a non-profit created in 1989 by
producers Norman Lear and Alan Horn and their wives Lyn Lear and Cindy
Horn. EMA is guided by top Hollywood talents and leading environmentalists.
Proceeds from the EMA Awards secure the future of the organization and its
work within the entertainment industry to encourage TV and film producers
to weave environmental messages into scripts as well as utilizing
celebrities as role models.

Public Web site: http://www.toyota.com

 

Film winners this year were “Hoot,” “Ice Age: The Meltdown,” and “Syriana” and documentary winners were “An Inconvenient Truth,” “Too Hot Not To Handle,” and “Who Killed The Electric Car?“

ZAP, an electric car distributor, is implementing a new tree-planting program.  For every electric car they sell, they will plant one tree in China.  They hope to have 1 million trees planted by 2010.  To kick off the initiative, they opened an auto show last weekend by planting a friendship tree in China and a sister tree in San Francisco.  Ed Asner was to be at the San Francisco Auto Show but coudn’t make it.

Ford has chosen Eaton Corporation to provide advanced air delivery compressors for their FreedomCAR and fuel cell demonstration program.

Green Car Congress reports that “Eaton has been developing engine air management components and systems for passenger vehicles and stationary engine manufacturers for decades. Its expertise includes Roots-type superchargers and by working with the fuel-cell stack manufacturers, its advanced engineering group has successfully applied the supercharger compressor technology to the fuel-cell environment.”

Read the full story.

A new organization - Argentine Biofuels Chamber (ABC) - aims to bring together biofule experts in the private as well as the public sector, as well as to bring in academic experts.

Green Car Congress reports “Launched recently in Buenos Aires, its founding members include US investors looking to break into the booming biofuels industry, European biofuel associations eager to purchase the sector’s output, and international vendors seeking to sell equipment and services.”

Read the full story.

This weekend MSN reported that they found hybrids to be no more dangerous that gasoline-powered cars, as long as rescue procedures were followed.

The article reports “Hybrids first went on sale seven years ago in America—starting with the 2000 Honda Insight—but fears of potential dangers related to the high-voltage systems have inspired a recent wave of news stories and fueled online bulletin-board discussions. Concerned groups have focused on the possible dangers associated with the systems used to power the vehicles, questioning the risks the electric components might pose in the event of an accident.”

Read the full story on hybrid safety.