Toyota Prius

Toyota Prius Hybrid

The Prius is Toyota's contribution to the hybrid car market. The term hybrid car simply refers to a vehicle that is powered using a combination of electric and conventional internal combustion engines. Put simply, the idea is that a small petrol engine charges a high performance battery which in turn powers an electric motor.

The electric motor is used at low speed with the petrol engine cutting in at above average urban speeds. Of course it's not as straightforward as that with both engines complimenting each other depending on driving conditions. This explains the Hybrid Synergy Drive name which is Toyota's term for this method of propulsion.

On the face of it there appears to be many positive aspects to this car in addition to its environmentally friendly nature. Not only does it produce figures of 60 mpg on an extra urban cycle but it can reach 60 mph in less than 11 seconds and is insurance group 7. In addition to this its UK congestion charge exempt and is one of the safest cars in its class. It really did sound too good to be true but then a week behind the wheel would soon put the theory to the test.

Toyota Prius Review

The first thing that strikes the driver on approaching a Toyota Prius is its quirky styling. The bonnet is relatively small and the lines make a single gracious curve ending in the split level hatch.

You might think of an Audi A2 that been given a good stretch. It's very distinctive and although it divided opinion at the start of the week, its image really grew on us.

Prius Interior

On entering the car there are some obvious differences to a "normal hatch". This vehicle doesn't have a key but a credit card size ignition key and the start-up procedure requires you to place the card in the ignition slot, press down on the brake and hold the starter button in for 3 seconds.

There is an arm rest to the left of the driver with various handy storage spaces .. but no handbrake. The handbrake is located where the clutch would normally be on a manual car although tucked up slightly higher in the floor well to avoid any problems with drivers not used to driving an automatic. There is then a rest plate below for that idle left foot.

CVT clutchless gearbox

There is no manual transmission Prius option but the Toyota CVT clutchless gearbox is very smooth and made the driving experience very relaxing.The cabin felt spacious and there is a lot of room in front of the driver due to the short bonnet.

The LED speedo is in line of site and there is a touch sensitive screen on the dash showing which engine is in use, battery state and MPG figures. Initially it's a bit tempting to stare at this too much whilst driving with the obvious potential repercussions.

Hybrid Synergy Drive

The electric motor will function at speeds up to 28 mph and above this the petrol engine cuts in. The clever aspect to the Hybrid Synergy Drive is the way the two propulsion units interact with each other depending on the driving conditions.

For example during heavy acceleration the two engines will combine even if the speed is less than 28 mph. It can be a little unnerving when the petrol engine cuts out at traffic lights with a barely discernable shudder leaving a deafening silence. We did wonder if we'd get going again but the Prius never let us down.

Prius Road Test

During the week the car was used in most everyday situations. Local roads, A roads, and Motorways. The M25 roadworks between junction 12 and 14 showed the car at its best with the CVT automatic gearbox ridding us of constant gear changes and the car spending most of the time in electric mode and so boosting the efficiency.

At the end of the week the average fuel consumption figure was an amazing 59 MPG. That's not to say that the Prius is for eco-warriors only. The car is willing throughout the whole rev band and we found ourselves going at "surprising" speed with very little effort.

Running Costs

Although the Prius is relatively expensive to buy the running costs are very low when you take into account its efficiency, insurance group of 7, low emissions and road tax and no London congestion charge. In our opinion the pros of this vehicle definitely outweighed the cons by long a way.

Toyota Prius

Link to Toyota Prius

http://www.toyota.com/prius-hybrid/trims-prices.html#?view=showroom&vehicle=null


Toyota Prius Color Selections

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Toyota Prius Interior

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A DIY guide to turn your car hybrid >>> Water4Gas

Tax Incentive Resources

Here is a list of links for finding tax incentives and other state by state activities.
Please add any information, or describe experiences you have had in the comment section.



Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

http://www.dsireusa.org/index.cfm (best site)

http://www.eere.energy.gov/states/state_information.cfm

Hybrid Incentives
http://go.ucsusa.org/hybridcenter/incentives.cfm

Sign the General Petition for New Energy: Click Here(international)

Water4Gas

I have been searching for "free energy" since time immemorial. But haven't we all?

My (real) name is Ozzie Freedom and I'm an experimenter with Water4Gas technology. Back in Israel in 1983, a friend has given me some old Popular Science and Popular Mechanix magazines. I read every word with thirst. In the classifieds I found intriguing ads for "free energy" books and plans that sparked my imagination. I ordered some books and the information I found in them was hard to believe - Official US Patents showing clear, easy to follow technologies to generate what seemed feasible free energy to the inventor AND to the US gov't, thru its Patent Office!

One thing was not clear though. How come these inventions lie there in dust and nobody's DOING anything about them? In the big, rich and powerful America?! It took me many years of research to fully realize that there are people who want these technologies suppressed for as long as they possibly can. For profit of course.

It was not hard to figure out that if it took me so much research to get to this information and this understanding, then it follows that the average dude has little chance of finding out. He's being lied to constantly and massively. My father made sure to teach me all about how impossible free energy was. He kept mentioning extracting energy from water. I kept this at the back of my mind and, as Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot always says, waited for some truth to present itself.

In 2006 it came to me in the shape of a funny little jar that somebody installed in my truck. He said it would generate energy out of water. I was skeptical but enthusiastic to discover the truth. It took minutes to realize - it was indeed working! With plain water out of the guy's garden hose... It saved gas, drastically suppressed my terrible emissions - and even added some power to my weary 20-year old truck. One of the things I like best was it made the truck very quiet, so I no longer needed to shout on the cellphone or blast the radio.

"A technology so cheap and marvelous must not be put aside - the world must know about this!", I thought to myself and started doing something about it. I became a teacher. After a few short months I had cars running with this "miracle" all over the world: From Norway to Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Ireland and Poland, Austria and Spain, all over the Good Old USA and Latin America. Oops...I forgot to mention good old England.

Did you notice that when you actually experiment with a new technology, even if only a new recipe in the kitchen, that you become wiser and more confident about it? And you get new realizations that you did not get from reading a piece of paper? Well, that's exactly what happened to me. It took me some time and a lot of actual experimentation, to finally wrap my head around this "free energy from water" idea. It came in a flash one day: we are NOT generating free energy like some ridiculous machine diagrams that never take off. We're only REDUCING the 75% waste of normal gasoline engine!

And that's an important realization.

Do you realize that you're driving a very poorly designed car? It has a beautiful finish and some very futuristic looks. But it does poorly on energy. Only 25% of the energy in the gasoline you paid dearly for is actually used for moving forward. 75% is turned into heat (destroys the planet), emissions (unburned fuel), and additionally vibration and carbon deposits that slowly destroys the engine. And plain freaking noise that we just take for granted.

We've all heard and seen "hybrids" but on the highway they are nothing but regular, inefficient cars. Their aerodynamics are a little better, but that's true for many other cars that don't have the Prius looks. It's a great step forward though, if you can afford the price, because they make us think of alternative energy in more earthly terms.

One major solution can be converting your existing car to FULL ELECTRIC (not hybrid - you throw away the engine and put an electric motor and a bunch of batteries), for which conversion kits are available from several companies in the "green mile" of California's Bay Area. The next best thing - but 15 to 60(!) times cheaper - is to convert your existing car to a WATER HYBRID. That is, you leave the engine in there, unmodified or mostly unmodified, and you boost it up with water. Yes, it IS possible! And fairly easy.

From my experimentation with different cars, old and new, I found out that the SYSTEM approach to energy savings works the best. I recommend that you use ALL the technologies listed below to save fuel, because they support and supplement each other. A nice 20% saving here, 5% there, 3% over there, it quickly adds up. You can practically double your mileage and be the envy of the neighborhood.

The 12 ingredients of my "secret recipe" are:

1. Install a water-to-energy converter. These are basically electrolyzers or vapor injectors that use very little energy to boost the poor performance of gasoline as explained above. You can get a fully functional, ready to install system dirt cheap from http://water4gas.2freedom.com/

2. Install a fuel warmer such as "Fuel Atomizer 2000" - http://wyominginstruments.com/

3. Replace the spark plug WIRES with "Kiker Wires" from http://kikerperformance.com/ that improve the sparks by creating magnetic fields.

4. DO NOT, let me repeat this, DO NOT fill up your tank at stations that add 10% ethanol (the mixture is called "gasohol"). Instead, buy some Xylene (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylene%29 and add it yourself for much better results and fuel economy.

5. Replace your regular engine oil with "AMSoil Series 2000" synthetic oil or similar low-friction oil.

6. Use a bottle or two of fuel treatment such as "AMSoil P.I." to clean up.

7. Install what I call, for lack of a better name, "MSE" (MAP Sensor Enhancer, available from http://water4gas.2freedom.com/ and other sources) which is basically a variable resistor to lean the gasoline mixture. At the same time also UNPLUG the upstream Oxygen Sensor. When you do that, you gain back control over the ECU which is one of the major causes of fuel waste. This by itself saves 11%-31% in my Corolla. There is a right way to do it and there is a wrong way to do it, so learn the ropes before adding this powerful ingredient.

8. Driving habits are another major contributor. Before I go into that it is worth to mention that none of the "miracles" above will do much of its magic if your engine is broken. You can't just wish your way past a broken piston - fix it. It's part of your responsibilities as a driver. Now for driving habits, you can read all about it on the Internet, so let me tell you one trick you don't hear about too often, and that's to put your gear into neutral when you go downhill. I have a ScanGauge device and (while the water device keeps the engine idling almost without fuel) I get readouts of up to 340 MPG downhill. I have photos to prove it and I believe even higher numbers are possible. That means that for long stretches of road I'm using hardly any gasoline at all.

9. Last is to keep your tires fully pressurized. By "fully" I do not mean "over pressure" because then you lose traction and wear out the tire faster. Only if traction and the life span of the tire are not that important to you for whatever reason, pump 10% or 15% more air than recommended for your vehicle. DO NOT EXCEED the maximum pressure marked on the tire itself!

10. To actually READ the results in real time use the ScanGauge-II from http://www.scangauge.com./ It saves you long trips or road tests. And frankly, it's the only way to tell if certain technologies or driving habits actually work or not. And to what extent.

11. Last but not least is to get your money back. Make your government support you and reward you for doing all the above - see http://www-water4gas-com.blogspot.com/2008/07/tax-incentive-resources.html

12. Yeah, and there's one more ingredient to this secret recipe: don't be fooled by self-appointed "experts". How can you tell if one is an expert or a silly bugger? When they tell you "it cannot be done" or "it is scientifically impossible", you ask them - and INSIST on a straight answer - you ask them if they have ever TRIED it themselves, exactly per a specific technology and with TODAY'S cars. You will find out that they haven't. Tell them to bugger off. And don't take my word for it either because maybe I'm a silly bugger just as well. Experiment for yourself! There's no other way of really KNOWING if it is true or not.

And then let the world know. I do.

About the author
Ozzie Freedom is a "computer geek" and all his knowledge about cars is from hand-on experimentation rather than schooling. { http://water4gas.2freedom.com/ }

Water4Gas News

How to Modify Your Car Cheaply to RUN ON WATER

THE PROBLEMS:
Foolish petrol prices, petrol battles, pollution and global
climate change. You know what I'm referring to.

==> Water4Gas.com

THE BAD NEWS:
One likely way out, that you may have heard of, is water automobiles.
As distinct from water hybrids, water powered automobiles are yet to
be rolled out of the assembly plants. You could get a minimum of 10
strategies of water powered automobiles to try out. Regrettably those
designs are too costly to put together, are very knotty, and absolutely
unpredictable.

THE GOOD NEWS:
Widespread development and experimentation by numerous
back yard engineers has proven one method FEASIBLE.
With this method you can run your traditional automobiles
PARTIALLY ON WATER (that's a "Water Hybrid")
with little or no modifications."¢ You should be able to increase
your gas efficiency by as much as 59% (Toyota 99)
or even 70% (Cadillac 99)."¢ You could drastically cut down
discharges and help reduce Global Warming."¢ You can improve
efficient burning of fuel and consequently lessen wear and tear,
engine clatter, high temperature in the engine, carbon deposits, etc.

==> Water4Gas.Com

You see, you have just hit upon a unique piece of information.
As there is a small number of persons on the World Wide Web who
will not sell you products, but rather when you become a member of
a group or club, you will will gain knowledge of how to make these stuffs
yourself at home. A number of them will even provide you a
COMPLIMENTARY HYDROGEN BOOSTER SYSTEM, fully
put together set to go into your vehicle, so you can authenticate its
practicability and have a copy for replication. Again, this is a
OMPLIMENTARY GIFT for you, for becoming a member and a researcher

You could make use of this mock system to switch nearly any vehicle
into an trial, wholly functional WATER HYBRID in one slow day, with
the aid of simple tools at home. Back in I knew nothing about automobiles,
I had no garage and no special tools, yet I installed one un-aided within a
quarter of an hour. This was in an era when all I had was half a page of
instructions. Nowadays you can obtain complete informational products
or ebooks, packed with guidelines and suggestions. There are also support
groups to assist you with any mechanical, electrical or tuning trouble. These
new groups have labored hard to make it SIMPLE FOR YOU. And it is the
influence of the group that makes your path so much easier and smoother.

==> Water4Gas.Com

IT GETS EVEN BETTER:
You will also be skilled in how to become a home
manufacturer of numerous models of hydrogen generating system.
Again, basic skills and easy tools is all that is need to replicate these systems
for your friends, family or clients. PAY NO ROYALTIES OR LICENSE FEE -
you keep all the cash!

When you get into one of these exceptional clubs or groups,
you can discover answers to your questions:
1. Is this really practical? How come it's so easy?
2. Why didn't anyone tell me about it before?
3. could water technology do for me?
4. Why should I become a member of a group/club?

So"¦you will start to realize why water hybrid (water car / watercar)
secrets have been unknown until today.

To get involved in knowing all there is to know and in learning how to
POWER YOUR CAR WITH WATER, visit

==> Water4Gas.com

Present Water4Gas

There's a survival group called Water4Gas.
Water4Gas teach people to convert their cars to water hybrids.
Part gasoline, part water. Saves money and cleans the environment.

Water4Gas made it very simple and you learn how to make it yourself.
Or have your mechanic do it for you.

But what's unique about Water4Gas is that Water4Gas hold no secrets!
You get all the information,
a written permission to replicate and several ways to earn money.

Water4Gas strategy is this: if there are many of us around the world,
the motion cannot be stopped!

Here's the website

==> Water4Gas.Com

Water4Gas Review Run Car On Water

Water4Gas Makes It Possible to Run Your Car on Water!

Congratulations! You have just found a way to own a water-to-energy converter for your car. Water4Gas is one of the most PRACTICAL free-energy devices, marked by extraordinary simplicity and effectiveness. You cannot get anything, anywhere near this good, for twice the price.

Water4Gas offer devices that use a little electricity out of your car's battery, to separate water into a gas called HHO (2 Hydrogen + 1 Oxygen). HHO, also called Hydroxy or Hydrogen*Oxygen™, burns beautifully and provides TONS of energy - while the end product is just WATER! Mobile Magazine says HHO provides the atomic power of Hydrogen, while maintaining the chemical stability of water.

DID YOU KNOW: Pound for pound HHO GAS IS 3 TIMES MORE POTENT THAN GASOLINE!!! HHO is a fast growing trend for boosting performance and MPG.

Water4Gas took a 90-year-old suppressed technology, Water4Gas SIMPLIFIED it, You can have affordable yet very effective devices, right now. You have Water4Gas permission to replicate all Water4Gas devices - we'll even show you how! Easy to install & maintain. Good for carb/fuel injection, gas/diesel. Old/new cars, light trucks, boats, more.

WATER4GAS

Water4Gas is a technology based on splitting water on board a vehicle, and using the resulting gases not to drive the vehicle - but only to boost the efficiency of its combustion.

Water4Gas is a Do-It-Yourself technology, specifically designed for beginners with no special tools and very limited budgets. A working system can be built at home with basic hand tools for $20-$100, installed in minutes and removed in seconds.

No modifications to the engine, computer or fuel injection systems, so any backyard mechanic can install Water4Gas easily.

Water4Gas technology is age old, over 91 years. All Water4Gas have done is raise Water4Gas from the dead and develop a simple structure based on low cost hardware. Although there is a myriad of hydrogen generating designs out there, Water4Gas is the simplest and also the safest for the beginner. The electrolyzer, bubbler and water reservoir have all been combined into one super-simple device.

Another advantage is the employment of coiled/spiraled electrode WIRES - rather than flat plates or spiraled plates. The magnetic vortex created by the coil assists water splitting, so Water4Gas don't need as much power from the car's electrical system, thus simplifying the Water4Gas system even further and lowering its cost.

Three major factors work together to cause water splitting: direct current flowing through the electrode wires to the water, the magnetic vortex created by the shape of the electrodes, and the vacuum provided by the engine itself.

The effects of Water4Gas technology is lowered emissions and improved mileage, simply due to a MORE COMPLETE COMBUSTION. Today's internal combustion engines suffer from poor efficiency of 20%-25%, as any mechanic will tell you; 75%-80% of the gasoline, instead of being converted to forward motion, is instead converted to pollution and carbon deposits (unburned fuel), as well as heat (global warming), vibration and noise (knocking/pinging).

THE MAIN PROBLEM IS OVERSIZED FUEL DROPLETS IN THE MIXTURE. The Hydrogen, being such a small particle, hits a droplet, cuts it into smaller droplets and attaches itself to the smaller droplets. Now the finer, hydrogen-enhanced mixture, is capable of burning more thoroughly.

On top of improved performance, the engine steam-cleans itself every day, and the resulting effect is smoother and quieter operation. One of Water4Gas staff was shocked when she checked her engine oil and was sure that her oil ran totally out. Actually what happened was that while she was expecting dark brown, dirty oil, the oil was actually so transparent that she could not see it on the dip stick. Her 20-year-old car is as smooth now (with Water4Gas device on) as it was when she bought it 17 years ago.

Another lady "complained" that she could not hear the engine running...but to her surprise the car was still moving along.

Water4Gas technology is not capable of running a car on water alone. Water4Gas aim is not to replace gasoline but to enhance it - and open the door and the mind to the possibilities of waterfuel technology. With correct fine tuning Water4Gas can double the mileage, rendering a new energy balance: half gasoline, half water. Very little water is used, in an economy car it's around 2700 miles per gallon of distilled water, together with 4-6 teaspoons of household baking soda as catalyst. Water4Gas have demonstrated many times that the fuel consumption of a 4-stroke generator can also be cut in half with Water4Gas technology.

Not all cars, loads and driving conditions will gain the same, obviously. For ethical reasons Water4Gas do not build up expectations for more than 10%-50% improvement in fuel economy, however Water4Gas are getting daily success stories from experimenters who are seeing gains of 80%-100% in various vehicles. For some, significant economy gains inflict a revelation that something can be done about it, while for others it's a life changing factor.

Water4Gas sell books that teach EVERYTHING about the technology and how to manufacture it, as well as sponsoring a f'ree marketplace where sellers and buyers of actual systems can find each other and trade without interference and without any fees paid to Water4Gas. Like in the Golden Age of Greece - no police, very little government.

At the time of writing Water4Gas have more than 20,000 satisfied customers, over 900 registered independent manufacturers/installers, and an unknown number of affiliates promoting Water4Gas all over the world. 85%-90% of Water4Gas sales occur via affiliates, and more are joining due to the generous 50% commission rate and the skyrocketing popularity of the product and the technology.

All in all, Water4Gas has become a buzzword for practicality and affordability. Water4Gas policy is to guide the readers toward a mindset of an experimenter rather than a driver that takes things for granted. Water4Gas teach them that something can be done about gas prices, pollution and global warming, and they gladly take an active role and help to spread the word.

At the time of writing the technology is only for gasoline and diesel cars and trucks. However many of Water4Gas experimenters are working on adaptations to propane/LPG/CNG propelled vehicles, as well as boats and other applications such as stationary generators.

Water4Gas getting daily requests from business people around the world, as well as inventors inspired by Water4gas success, requesting that Water4Gas work with them to advance their goals and purposes. Water4Gas help as much as Water4Gas can, including bridging the gap between investors and inventors, as well as between inventors/developers seeking to complement their technologies with supporting ones (such as a bridge Water4Gas have created between an English fuel cell and an American pure-hydrogen generator).

Thus Water4Gas has emerged and evolved in one year from a small home-based business to become a global junction for waterfuel technologies, inspiration and leadership.