Valleywag
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Posts Tagged “
Prius
”
2009 toyota prius
New hybrid Prius to conspicuously consume slightly less gas
Details have emerged about the latest model of the Valley's most self-righteous ride, the 2009 Toyota Prius, which hasn't been significantly updated since 2004. It will reportedly be longer, faster and more fuel-efficient. Also, the range of available models is expected to grow — anything from a smaller coupe to a larger, Lexus-like luxury sedan. What's not mentioned? More »
mine is greener
Prius drivers officially crowned with smug-emitting halos by Salon
In a blow to environmentally conscious socialists who espouse the frugal, sustainable sensibility of Cuban car culture, Salon's Pablo Päster has done the journalist math. It turns out that a brand-spanking-new Toyota Prius is more energy efficient over the expected lifetime of the vehicle than an old beater Mercedes from Daimler-Benz. What Päster doesn't take into account are alternative energy retrofits to classic cars, like MTV's pimping out of a Chevy Impala to run on biodiesel, like the one picture above. Because while a twee Prius might say "enviromentally conscious" to Stuff White People Like readers, Stuff White People Do readers (myself included) would much rather cruise El Camino Real in a biodiesel-fueled lowrider, mijo.
online advertising
Meet the truck that fuels your Prius
General Motor's top-selling 8 cylinder, 6 liter Chevy Silverado gets a tree-hating 13 miles per gallon driving around the streets of San Francisco. Accelerate too hard in one of these babies and the atmosphere might just whip up another Katrina right then and there. GM's top seller: It's a monstrosity. It's a perversion of engineering. It's paying Silicon Valley's bills. According to ComScore, General Motors bought 1,687,065,000 pageviews in January 2008, leading auto manufactures online. Toyota, which manufactures Sergey Brin's favorite, the sippy-cup Prius, only shelled out enough to reach about 60 percent as many unique visitors.
cleantech
Google's plug-in hybrids to increase Bay Area smug levels
With a laptop tracking power and gas consumption and CO2 emissions, Google.org's four plug-in Priuses serve as a test fleet for the charity's $10 million plug-in electric hybrid vehicle research program. And according to the stats, they're already outperforming the company's two regular Prius hybrids across the board. RechargIT.org is a fantastic PR stunt, but is it good science? More »
google maps
Sergey stymied: Prius doesn't work for Google Street View
In Europe, Google's on a massive hiring binge for the Street View feature of Google Maps, where camera-equipped vehicles snap photos of streetscapes. It's bringing on 300 drivers for the Switzerland-based effort. But the project has been held up by the whim of a founder. Sergey Brin, we hear, is insisting that the project use hybrid Priuses, rather than the staid Saturn Astra it used in Australia, shown here, or the Chevrolet Cobalt Googlers drive in the U.S. Brin believes Toyota's gas-sipping Priuses are better for Google's image. Just one problem.More »
Vinod Khosla thinks all you Prius owners are on personal guilt trips. The venture capitalist likens it to giving money to "art museums instead of starving people [in Africa]." Ethanol and bio-fuels are better bets because the average consumer isn't willing to spend $5,000 to save a half ton of carbon per year. Neither is Khosla. [VentureBeat]
