America and Canada have spent tens of billions in taxpayer money “saving” Chrysler and GM. During this Year of Living Parasitically, Toyota hasn’t said boo to a proverbial goose. This despite the fact that a non-governmental ChryCo Old GM Chapter 11/7 would have eliminated most of the North American market’s production over-capacity, setting the stage for a more rapid recovery. Politics, doncha know. Anyway, yesterday, sitting in a Volt prototype at a Toronto GM Chevrolet dealership, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty made an announcement. After July 10, 2010, customers plunking for plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles would be eligible for a $10,000 rebate. The car most likely to be so blessed: the Chevy Volt. But that’s not what really got Toyota’s goat. As the Leader-Post reports, “Mr. McGuinty said he wants one out of every 20 vehicles in Ontario to be electrically powered by 2020.”

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As evolutionary as the changes to Toyota’s third-generation Prius may seem on the surface, beneath the familiar sheetmetal lurks enough new technology to justify over 1,000 new patents. The Wall Street Journal reports that through three generations of the Prius, Toyota has generated over 2,000 patents on hybrid technology, half stemming from the latest generation alone. Toyota’s hybrid patent filing nearly doubles the number filed by Honda, its closest hybrid competitor. And the WSJ casts this “thicket of patents” as Toyota tightening its stranglehold on the hybrid market.

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Jaguar lost Tata $463 million during its first ten months as part of the Indian firm, reports Automotive News [sub]. That loss stings twice as bad considering it makes up the bulk of Tata Motors’ $520 million consolidated loss in the fiscal year ending March 31. “There has already been 2,000 job losses. We may be looking at more job losses, more plant shutdowns,” says Tata VP Ravi Khant. Will that kill the crazy Extended-Range EV plans for the forthcoming XE? Tata recently refinanced $3 billion in debt, according to AN, but with a hybrid LRX reportedly approved as well, Tata’s staring at some hefty development costs. Best of luck to ’em.

The August issue of Consumer Reports has started to arrive in subscribers’ mailboxes and features a review of the 2010 Honda Insight Hybrid. Guess what. They concurred with Michael Karesh and panned it, citing the lack of oomph, room, and refinement. CR didn’t like the original 2-seat Insight, either, citing the lack of oomph, room, and refinement, but at least it got 65+ mpg.

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Ever since Farago’s fateful appearance on Autoline After Hours, I’ve been hooked on the weekly spectacle of Detroit-think. Talk about a fly on the bunker wall. Anyway, the Vines’s and DeLorenzos of this world never tire of talking about how the recent economic collapse was the sole cause of Detroit’s downfall (not true—see TTAC archives up to last year) and how “everyone is hurting right now.” The first assertion seeks to absolve Detroit of its systemic failures, while the second hopes to show that every automaker has sunk to the depths of, say, GM and Chrysler. Of course the second point is more true (for what it’s worth) than the first, but a few news items show that Toyota is succeeding admirably where GM and Chrysler have abjectly failed.

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Bloomberg reports that Honda has dialed-back its US sales predictions for the Insight hybrid by a third. “First-year Sales of Honda’s gasoline-electric Insight, which debuted at U.S. dealerships in late March, may be between 50,000 and 60,000 units, John Mendel, the company’s U.S. executive vice president, said in a June 11 interview at Honda’s U.S. headquarters in Torrance. ‘I don’t think we’ll get to 90,000.'” (Bloomberg sat on this story for four days?) Apparently, Mendel forgot to explain the discrepancy between expectation and reality—so Hizzoner’s family firm did it for him . . .

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Speaking of GM’s ambivalence towards energy efficient vehicles, Bob Lutz’s determination that 95 percent of America won’t pay a hybrid premium seems to be bearing more fruit. GM’s 26/34 mpg Malibu mild hybrid has been canceled, reports Left Lane News (blog). The news is hailed as “unsurprising,” considering the hybrid Malibu’s $2,000 premium only improved mileage by 4 mpg in the city and 1 mpg on the highway over a six-speed auto, four-pot ‘bu LT.  Meanwhile, despite Penske’s rescue of Saturn, the planned Vue Two-Mode Hybrid has also been axed.

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Plug-in diesel hybrids? Anyone? Only 50 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer! Of course, Volvo’s plans are plagued with the usual “big plans, little company” problems. Like the fact that Volvo has no money. Ford’s Swedish division will build diesel-hybrids with about 30 miles of plug-in capacity for this latest project, while utility company Vattenfall will develop infrastructure and charging systems. In other words, like Mama Ford’s planned plug-in this puppy is only in play because of outside help. Speaking of which, there’s just one more piece to the partnership. “We do of course expect that the purchasing price will be higher,” Volvo’s Stephen Odell tells Reuters. “In this area we are keen to see further subsidies and incentives from the political arena to promote green choice among customers.” Of course.

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Whoever has been on the inside of Volkswagen knows that they are devout skeptics when it comes to alternative energies. Sure, they do some token research into hydrogen and hybrids to give the blue VW logo a greener hue, but deep in their hydrocarbon pumping hearts, they are devoted pistonhardheads. The aggressive incremental improvement of internal combustion has been their true strategy. Under the “BlueMotion” moniker, they tweak existing technology to wring every last drop of gas (or diesel) out of it. So far, the conservative (and conserving) strategy has succeeded: The new BlueMotion Golf VI, fitted with a peppy 1.6L TDI oil-burning engine, gets 61.9 mpg, handily beating the 2010 EPA 51/48/50 mpg numbers of Toyota’s third gen Prius (YMMV, as you well know.) Suddenly, Wolfsburgologists are registering a change in VeeDub’s secretive Forschung und Entwicklungs Abteilung (R&D Dept., see picture above.)

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God I love Google Translate. Where else can you generate Zen koans like the one above, allegedly attributable to Honda CEO Takeo Fukui? OK, it’s not actually a koan. But I sure would like to know what this “big mistake” is gonna be. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports Fukui’s interview with Japan’s Yomiuri. Apparently, the Japanese carmaker’s going to hybridize everything they build, including our ’bro Asimo. I made that bit up, obviously. In truth, Honda’s  “considering” introducing gas-electric minivans, sports cars and luxury sedans. If they’re as good as the new Insight, we have two words of advice: don’t bother. Oh, and I think Bloomberg translated the aforementioned techno-statement a little more accurately: “Fukui said it’s a ‘huge mistake’ for merging carmakers to expect cost savings on research and development.” Or anything else for that matter. Not that Fiatsler or their patrons (that’s you!) are listening. Hang on . . . now that I think about it, Google’s translation is actually pretty accurate. Huh.

Toyota’s Prius will extend its domination of the auto design zeitgeist, according to an Automotive News (via Autoweek) interview with Toyota global design chief Wahei Hirai. The third-generation Prius rocks ToMoCo’s latest “free-form geometrics” design language, an “avant-garde, high-tech look that also screams green.” The new Prius has improved its Cd from .26 to .25, with the help of “aero corners” and a reworked grille that shows Toyota’s way forward. “It’s an anti-traditional grille,” says Simon Humphries, general manager for global design. “It’s one step closer to the ultimate goal, which is going grilleless.” The “bolder” presentation of the hood emblem will also find its way onto other Toyotas as well. Which to my way of thinking is no good thing. Where the outgoing Prius was generic looking to the point of becoming iconic, the new model seems almost like a step backwards to the fussy awkwardness of the first-generation Prius. Although much of the visual discord is a matter of proportion, rather than details, news that this new model will influence Toyotas everywhere is reason to give pause. Think about it, man. No one may ever buy a Toyota based on its looks ever again.

Earth2Tech, Earth2Tech. Come in, Tech. You may be wondering if green websites like Earth2Tech are anxious about the possibility that GM (and/or its new masters) will kill the electric/gas hybrid Chevrolet Volt. You may recall that the Presidential Task Force on Autos (PTFOA) tore the Volt a new exhaust pipe in its original GM viability slam down. And it seems like there’s a bit of a C11 thing happening over at RenCen. Anyway, to their credit, Earth2Tech’s Volt-related concerns are global. So they emailed GM for reassurance on the European Volt program. And, by jove, they got it! “The Ampera is being developed in the U.S., and GM remains firm on its plans to bring the Ampera to the EU,” blogger Josie Garthwaite reports. And now, from the horses mouth: “‘We don’t expect any disruptions to our plans,’ GM spokeswoman Natalie Johnson told us in an email today. Neither does the Opel team. Communications director Rene Kreis reiterated that Ampera production is on schedule to begin in late 2011.” Good to go is one thing. But no disruptions? Props for maximum chillaxitude. Alternatively, brickbats for the usual spinmeisterly BS. Your call.

Newsday reports that New York City has purchased 40 Nissan Altima Hybrids for its police fleet. NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg pointed out that the Smyrna, TN-built Altimas enjoy a patriotic advantage over the Canadian-produced Crown Victorias and Chevy Impalas that comprise most of the NYPD’s fleet of 2,400 patrol vehicles. “It is an added benefit that buying these cars helps create jobs in America,” says Bloomberg. According to the report, some traffic enforcement agents have been using Toyota Prius hybrids since 2002, and police duty captains, who respond to major incidents, have already been using GMC Yukon sport utility vehicle hybrids. “We’ve had no downside,” says Police Commissioner Ray Kelly of his force’s hybrid use.

“The Hummer H3 ReEV is the first range-extended electric vehicle based on a full-sized SUV,” powertrain developers FEV claim ahead of an unveil at the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) hoe-down. Yes, on April 20, the world will be shocked—shocked!, I tell you— as FEV’s Hummer H3 Range-Extended Electric Vehicle (ReEV) proves that a “Raser scalable plug-in series hybrid design provides 40+ miles all-electric range and 100+ mpg fuel economy.” FEV says it performed the full vehicle integration (i.e., built the thing)  and developed all software for the hybrid control unit and in-vehicle graphical display. Sweet! But I’m not sure what differentiates the FEV mule from a Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid, or an Dodge Aspen Hybrid—other than the possibility that the gas – electric HUMMER H3 may be slower than continental drift with a top end that just about beats walking while stuffed to the rooftop with batteries. But apparently not . . .

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