Following in the footsteps of Zipcar, Hertz has launched a global car sharing program with locations in New York, London, and Paris. Customers in New York pay a $50 annual membership fee and then hourly rates depending on the car. A Prius runs $10 per hour while a Mini take the price up to $14 per hour.
Connect by Hertz website
As we reported back in August, a bus company in Ontario, Canada was taking PickupPal to court in order to have them shut down. The offense? Facilitating carpooling between people headed to the same location. The nerve!
Anyway, the courts have ruled in favor of the bus company and PickupPal was ordered to pay an $11,000 fine. According to this article, the only way you can legally ride with someone is if you meet ALL of these criteria.
Read the entire article at Save PickupPal
Looking to whip the buying public into a frenzy, Toyota has unveiled a new, and utterly useless, minisite for the third generation Prius. The site contains no information about the car, but you can sign up for email alerts.
It seems with all of the teaser shots floating around the web, they could at least post those on the site. Let’s hope they add something before the official unveiling in 61 days.
Useless Prius minsite
If you like a little exclusivity in your motoring, sign up now for the Mini E. Only 500 of the limited edition electric cars will find a home in the U.S. and the privilege of driving one can be yours for just $850 per month.
Designed to go 150 miles on a single charge, it’s not the ultimate roadtrip machine, but is perfect for most commuters.
Story from Luxvelocity
Hybrids get all of the love, but a lineup of worthy diesel alternatives is going to be showing up in showrooms soon. Here are ten choices for your high mileage driving pleasure.
Story from Forbes
Lexus, the luxury brand owned by Toyota, currently has three hybrid models on the market and if statements made by a company executive are true, every model in the lineup may be packing a hybrid engine in the coming years.
The current hybrids include the GS-h, RX-h, & ultra-luxurious LS-h with a $100,000+ price tag. That still leaves the LX, IS, GS, & SC without a hybrid option but that should change as new versions of those models roll out.
Story from Motor Authority
Situated atop Toyota’s parts center in southern California, the largest single roof solar installation in the U.S. covers 242,000 square feet and is going to provide 60% of the power for the facility. The installation will avoid 6.4 million pounds of emissions each year, approximately the same amount produced by 255 homes.
Press release from Toyota and SunPower (via redOrbit)
Honda has a waiting list of several months for the CNG (compressed natural gas) Civic that sells for a stout $25,000 and plans to double production for the next model year. This change in the market has caught Toyota’s attention and has promoted the company to revisit a market that it abandoned a decade ago.
Consumers will get their first look at the CNG Hybrid Camry at the Los Angeles Auto Show this November.
Story from USA Today
Set to go on sale next year, the new S400 BlueHybrid from Mercedes is going to boast an EPA rating of 29.8 MPG. This trounces conventional sedans of the same class and is a great example of how hybrid technology can be applied to any vehicle, regardless of size or brand cachet.
Unlike the Prius or Civic Hybrid, the Benz features nearly 300 horsepower and is sure to offer spirited driving dynamics when not sipping fuel on city streets.
Press release from Mercedes (via AutoBlog Green)
While the address may be San Jose, the new Tesla plant is going to be on the fringes of the city and is actually closer to being in Milpitas or Alviso. Those poor workers who have to commute along 237 each day are in for a real treat, but at least they will be close to Maria Elena’s for lunch.
On the bright side, city officials did a phenomenal job bringing jobs to the local economy and the financial breaks are a great deal for Tesla. The state is picking up an $8 million sales tax tab and the city is offering a decade of rent-free living, among other things.
Story from the Mercury News
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