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Toyota recalls slew of models for possible airbag calibration defect

Toyota is recalling sixteen models from the 2009 to 2013 model years over a potential issue with passenger seat airbag calibration. In spite of the large number of different Toyotas covered by the recall, just 3,235 units are included. These were vehicles installed with accessories like leather seat covers and headrest DVD systems by Southeast Toyota Distributors, and during the modifications the passenger seat occupant sensor system might not have been calibration tested. If the sensors aren't set up properly, the passenger airbag might not work as it should.
Affected models include: Avalon, Camry, Camry Hybrid, Corolla, 4Runner, FJ Cruiser, Highlander, Highlander Hybrid, Prius, Prius V, Rav4, Sequoia, Sienna, Tacoma, Tundra and Venza. Scroll down for the relevant model years for each.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration indicates that the recall will begin this month. Southeast Toyota will inform owners, at which time they can take their Toyotas to dealers for testing and repair. The complete bulletin from the NHTSA with more information is below.

Recharge Wrap-up: Japan supports hydrogen, Fools against fuel cells, BlueIndy controversy

Japan hopes to expand the use of hydrogen energy by subsidizing fuel cell vehicles, according to The Japan News. The trade ministry plans to include the subsidies in its 2015 budget to coincide with the expected launch of Toyota's Fuel Cell Vehicle and the Honda FCEV hydrogen car. By jump-starting purchases of hydrogen cars, Japan hopes that innovation and mass-production will get a boost and the cost of fuel cell vehicles will be competitive with gasoline-powered models by the year 2025. Japan plans to have 100 hydrogen fueling locations operating by March 2016, and wants to halve the cost of building those stations by 2020. The amount of the subsidies has not yet been set. Investing website The Motley Fool isn't quite as optimistic as Japan about hydrogen cars, and is instead bullish about Tesla Motors. The Fool points to Tesla's strong stock performance, and predicts future growth will come from more car models in the future - starting with the Model X - as well as the company's proposed Gigafactory for manufacturing batteries. If Tesla's charging technology continues to catch on, that only improves its financial prospects. The article has some harsh words, however, for hydrogen: "Fuel cells are an inferior automotive technology and for fundamental efficiency, cost, and infrastructure reasons always will be mere compliance gimmicks." Yeesh. As part of a program to build charging stations for the Indianapolis EV carsharing service BlueIndy, utility company Indianapolis Power & Light (IPL) wants to raise its electricity rates an average of 44 cents a month per residential customer to help pay for its share of the project. State consumer advocacy agency Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor and consumer watchdog group Citizens Action Coalition oppose the plan, according to Greenfield, Indiana's Daily Reporter. The BlueIndy program, which is a partnership between the city of Indianapolis and battery manufacturer Bollore Group, will provide up to 500 cars for rent at 25 charging sites around the city. Those who oppose the rate hike call IPL a monopoly and say the amount of the increase is not allowed under state law and that the program wouldn't benefit working class and low-income citizens. A hearing regarding IPL's proposal is scheduled for July 23. A Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV will run the 2014 Asia Cross Country Rally, Hybrid Cars reports. The rally covers 1,367 miles of woods, swamps and mountains from Thailand to Cambodia.

Toyota calling for independent, industry-wide Takata airbag testing

The initiative is still very new, and there's no set timeframe for this third-party testing to begin. With Takata's airbag inflator recall expanding nationwide soon, the scope of this safety campaign is only growing, and is set to affect millions of additional vehicles. Toyota thinks that it can help, though. The Japanese automaker has announced an initiative to get all of the affected companies to band together to fund independent, third-party testing of the faulty components. The goal of this work is to "ensure the inflators that require replacement are accurately identified and promptly fixed," according to Toyota. All of the data would be shared among the participating automakers to better understand the causes of these problems, which still aren't entirely known, and come up with the best way to repair the affected vehicles. "By combining our collective efforts behind a coordinated, comprehensive testing program, we believe we can achieve greater results. Together we will be better equipped to address this issue more rapidly for all customers," said Simon Nagata, President and CEO, Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing North America, in the company's release. According to Toyota spokesperson Cindy Knight speaking to Autoblog, the initiative is still very new, and there's no set timeframe for this third-party testing to begin. The automaker's first step is simply getting the word out that it's looking for partners. She said Toyota "has spoken with colleagues in the industry" about setting up the independent evaluations and specifically said the company has already reached out to Honda and Ford about possibly working together on this. Honda also released a statement calling for similar third party testing, and when reached for comment about Toyota's proposal, Ford spokesperson Kelli Felker responded: "Ford takes the safety of our customers very seriously. We plan to join the proposed industry wide effort to investigate and develop solutions to address this critical issue. We look forward to discussing next steps with NHTSA and other automakers." Scroll down to read Toyota and Honda's full announcements of these safety initiative.