httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEy7DidnKeg

When the Scion debuted its iQ Concept at the New York International Auto Show, there was no solid word on when or if the car would be coming to the United States. The early word is that the car, which has already been successful in Japan and Europe, would come to North America in 2011 as a 2012 under the Scion brand, which would certainly give Scion some time to create larger customization options for the car to better fit their brand image.

Now the news is that the iQ could be coming to the U.S. even sooner. Given the recent success and expansion of SmartUSA, Toyota might have its sights set on the fortwo’s market niche with the iQ. Given Toyota’s superb brand-recognition and dealership network, it could easily give Smart a run for its money and reach even more potential buyers. Here’s hoping!

The Fit and Yaris have been dueling hatchbacks for years now, but it looks like they might soon become dueling hybrids. Rumors of both popular cars becoming hybrids have come and gone over the last few years, but it looks like it will stick this time for both of them. Especially now that sedans like the Civic and Corolla are much less popular at home in Japan than their hatchback counterparts.

Yaris rumors report that the vehicle could cost less than $16,000 in hybrid form and get up to 94 mpg in Japan’s urban driving cycle. As impressive as that sounds, it would probably only mean ~50mpg in the EPA test cycle. Nevertheless, you can anticipate the sales of vehicle carrying the Prius’s epic clout and a low price tag.

The Fit hybrid has been talked about for a lot longer, but it looks like that vehicle might come true as early as 2010. Less is known about the theoretical fuel economy of a Fit hybrid, but one would expect similar numbers to a Yaris hybrid unless Honda continues with it’s mild-hybrid IMA system into a new generation of hybrid vehicles.

Here’s hoping the rumor mill is more productive this time around!

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAocwToZWVQ

Ever wondered what the difference between the average driver struggling to beat the EPA in their Prius and the ecodrivers getting 80 mpg is? One of the keys is a technique called “Pulse & Glide.”

The specifics of pulse & glide on the Prius are covered in the above video, but to summarize, the technique has two parts:

• The pulse: This is a period of gentle to moderate acceleration. Even though you are using a fair amount of gas to gain speed, you’re not flooring it.
• The glide: During the glide you coast down from your top speed to your lower limit with the gasoline engine off, hoping to maximize the distance of your coast.

In the above video, the technique is practiced on rather empty roads from a speed of 20 mph to 37 mph, which nets about 80 mpg over the course in the Prius.

If you’re interested in more fuel saving tips, definitely check out EcoModder’s hypermiling tips list.

Been wondering where to cash in on your government rebate in recent days? There are lots of great new cars on the market, but EcoModder has picked 5 in particular that have extra appeal when coupled with the government cash for clunkers (CARS) rebate.

1. 2010 Honda Insight

The cheapest hybrid on the market is even cheaper with a fat rebate. If you’ve always wanted a hybrid but have been long-detered by the price premium, this is the perfect time to cash in an on eligible price rebate. The Toyota Prius also becomes much cheaper under this plan, but still can’t beat the Insight’s low price.

Price after rebate: $15,300

2. 2009 Honda Fit

Looking for big value in a little car? The Honda Fit is perfect for people looking to get a lot of car out of a vehicle with a small footprint. The car’s already low price makes it a perfect entry level vehicle or second family car.

Price after rebate: $10,250

3. 2009 VW Jetta TDI

With VW’s oft-lauded diesel models back on sale in all 50-states, a lot of people have been scooping up new TDIs. However, like hybrids, diesels carry a price premium that has prevented many people from capitalizing on their superior gas mileage. With a CARS rebate, this is no longer. You can pick up a manual transmission TDI now for a price comparable to similar gas vehicles without the rebate.

Price after rebate: $17,770

EDIT: VW notes that their clean diesels are also eligible for a further $1,300 government rebate for fuel economy, kicking down the price possibly as low as $16,470.

4. 2009 Smart Fortwo

The Smart Fortwo has always been a small, thrifty vehicle, which has gotten even thriftier with this rebate. You can get the absolute base model for as low as $7,490, or capitalize on Smart’s offer of a $99/month payments on the Fortwo.

5. 2009 Toyota Yaris

If you’re not into hatchbacks but want a cheap, fuel efficient sedan, the Yaris is for you. The Yaris is the smallest car in the Toyota lineup, and is easy on gas while maintaining a small footprint in a traditional sedan form.

Price after rebate: $7,705

Okay, I know this isn’t official, but I couldn’t help but stop and take a picture when I saw this today.

The picture was taken out at a Toyota distribution lot in the countryside outside of Kumamoto, Japan. It is a busy lot and the stock is always changing. This is the first of three times that I have ridden my bicycle past it when I saw such a site.

Anyway, doesn’t the iQ look like just the car for America? I would say so.

Be sure to check out our 2010 Toyota Prius hybrid photo gallery at the bottom of the post.

Even though Toyota would like us to focus on the not quite stellar 40/43 mpg rating of the new Honda Insight hybrid, most of the press has focused on the hybrid’s low price. In fact, the price was so low that Toyota decided they had to do something to keep the Prius competitive.

In Japan, Toyota dropped the price of the new Prius so far as to almost match that of the base Honda Insight, but we didn’t know what would happen in the U.S. until today. To help the Prius compete with the $19,800 Insight, Toyota announced that they would be selling the car in 5 different trim levels, with the lowest coming in at just $1,200 more than the Insight.

The specs are still unknown about the new, low-priced Prius, but for details on the rest of the trim levels, check out Toyota’s press release:

Prius I To be released at a later date $21,000

Prius II $22,000
► 1.8-liter Atkinson cycle engine
► P195/65 R15 all-season tires with alloy wheels & covers
► Smart Key (driver’s door) and Push Button start
► EV, Eco, and Power modes
► Multi-Informational Display with energy monitor and fuel consumption history
► AM/FM/MP3 CD player with six speakers and satellite radio capability and auxiliary audio jack
► Cruise control
► STAR Safety System and active front headrest
► Seven airbags including driver knee airbag
► Four-wheel disc brakes
► Tilt/telescopic steering wheel with audio and HVAC Controls with Touch Tracer Display
► Six-way adjustable driver seat
► Auto up/down on all windows
► Color-keyed foldable power heated side mirrors
Prius III In addition to Prius II features: $23,000
► JBL AM/FM/MP3 six-disc CD changer with eight speakers
► Integrated satellite radio capability
► Hands-free phone capability via Bluetooth® wireless technology

Prius IV In addition to Prius III features: $25,800
► Three-door Smart Key system
► Leather-trimmed interior
► Heated front seats with driver lumbar support
► Driver and front passenger water repellant windows
► Plasmacluster™ ionizer
► Auto dimming mirror with HomeLink®

Prius V In addition to Prius IV features: $27,270
► 17-inch alloy wheels and P215/45 R17 tires
► LED headlamps with auto leveling and washers
► Integrated foglamps

[imagebrowser=6]

We’ve all heard about the new Honda Insight’s killer low price, and about Toyota’s update of its old standby, the new 2010 Prius. In Japan, the Insight has been flying out of the showrooms even more quickly than was expected. Their main rival, Toyota, has stepped up to the plate with not only a reduced price on the new model, but by keeping the second generation Prius around at an even lower price.

The base price for the new Prius will come in at about $20,750, with the old model selling for $19,130. However, if you feel like spending the money, you can still go ahead and spend the money to buy a tricked out Prius for up to $33,100 (the most expensive Insight is more than $10,000 less).

Will the pricing wars spill over to the US, where both cars will have to compete with the Ford Fusion, and eventually the GM Volt? Only time will tell, but I’m sure we’re all hoping it does.

Source: ABG

Recently, we talked about how the hybrid Honda Insight was beating sales expectations in Japan. As far as orders are concerned, that hasn’t changed, with Honda taking in over 15,000 orders in a month when they wanted only to sell 5,000 cars.

Unfortunately for Honda, they could only deliver on 4,900 of these vehicles, meaning they missed their goal slightly, but are still on track to exceed sales expectations with ramped-up production.

However, for the first time ever, Honda sold more units of its Insight in Japan than Toyota did of its Prius. The Prius sold just a few more than 4,500 units in February in Japan, a sales decline of 20% from last year.

While it’s true that many people will be waiting for the third generation Prius to hit the market, it’s obvious that the Insight has gotten off to a strong start.

Source: Treehugger

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mevyNLB3LN8

I was just looking through some of the official Toyota videos on youtube when I happened to stumble across this explanation of some of the tech in the new Prius. I already knew that Toyota had made some changes to the engine to favor a more powerful, quicker Prius. Despite that, the car received a bump in its EPA ratings.

That’s not too strange, however. It’s common for car makers to split the difference in efficiency gains between power and fuel economy to try to please both of those desires. Usually, however, those same car makers will claim, instead of being honest about splitting the difference, that more power is somehow better for fuel economy.

Toyota is doing the same thing here with the Prius. By claiming that the engine has to work less since it’s bigger, the company is basically lying. If larger engines actually got better fuel economy, you wouldn’t see a sliding scale from small engines with good fuel economy to large engines with poor fuel economy when looking at all cars currently available.

It’s most likely that the improvements in efficiency are due to Toyota’s efforts to reduce aerodynamic and parasitic drag on the engine. So don’t be deceived into thinking that faster and bigger is all of a sudden more fuel efficient.

Toyota has been stepping up the fuel efficiency game recently, and not just with flashy hybrid models like the new Toyota Prius. Some of their efforts have been to inch up the mileage across their entire fleet with some advanced fuel efficiency upgrades incorporated into their engine design.

The new Rav4 engine is a perfect example Toyota’s advanced engine technology:

• Dual indepedent variable valve timing (VVT-i)
• Offset crankshaft
• Roller rockers
• Three-stage variable oil pump
• Reduced-tension piston rings
• Auxiliary belt drive

Perhaps the neatest upgrade, however, is the Acoustic Control Induction System (ACIS), which changes the length of the intake runners based on operating conditions to deliver the most torque and fuel economy at any given time.

The new engines from Toyota not only promise better fuel economy, but also more power.

Source: Toyota via our fuel economy forums