Valleywag: Toyota Prius

New hybrid Prius to conspicuously consume slightly less gas

Jackson West — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:00:00 PDT

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?

A factory-installed plug-in hybrid option — though I wonder if tapping a coal-powered electrical grid improves the Prius's carbon footprint that greatly. The real questions are: Who will prove more environmental in the court of pseudoscientific, envirosocial one-upsmanship — the owners who hold on to their existing vehicle, or those who trade in for the new, more fuel-efficient ones? And will the Bay Area see more violent, Prius-hating backlash?(Photo by Rick Audet)

Prius drivers officially crowned with smug-emitting halos by Salon

Jackson West — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 08:40:00 PDT

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.

How Larry and Sergey's jet stacks up to other men's

Nick Douglas — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 19:36:32 PDT

The Google jet being custom-fitted for founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin is a monumental achievement in the size wars of Silicon Valley billionaires. Larry and Sergey's Boeing 767 outclasses all other corporate jets in length. As shown above, its impressive girth also dwarfs those of lesser moguls.

Those with a penetrating gaze will notice that the cockpit has been removed from the drawing of the 767, so any missing optical inches are due to the excised tip.

Earlier: Sergey and Larry's Google jet, mapped