Brand New 2013 Toyota Prius Sale! $23568 And 0%,0.9%,1.9% Apr*save Gas And Cash! on 2040-cars

Auto blog

China sticking to its guns on EVs for the future

Automakers are obviously free to develop whatever next-gen, zero-emissions tech that they want. However, if a company wants to get on the good side of the Chinese government, that strategy better include some plug-in vehicles. The authorities there are lending major support to plug-ins at the moment, and its forcing the auto industry to play along. According to Bloomberg, Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai, and BMW are all launching dedicated EV brands with their joint venture partners, and as many as 40 electric models could hit the Chinese market this year alone. However, analysts don't think the vehicles are going to sell well. Instead, the launches are essentially a way for companies to play nice with the government and help get the approval to build factories in the country. Take Toyota as an example. The company is pushing the future of hydrogen hard with promotional films for the Mirai and engineers talking down fast-charging EVs. Still, the Japanese automaker is getting ready to launch two EV brands in China with its joint venture partners, according to Bloomberg. China's push for alternative fuels has been happening for a while, but it really kicked into high gear last year. The government has set a goal to improve fleet-wide economy by 40 percent by the end of the decade in order to spend less importing oil and for the population's health. The plan has shown some success so far with hybrid and EV sales growing early in 2015. Related Video: News Source: BloombergImage Credit: Kin Cheung / AP Photo Government/Legal Green BMW Hyundai Toyota Volkswagen Green Culture Technology Electric tax incentives chinese government

Toyota celebrates 30 years of 4Runner with... incentives?

Many Americans view their 30th birthdays as significant milestones, even though the average life expectancy here is more than 2.5 times that age. So you might think Toyota would be keen to party over the 30th anniversary of its 4Runner, since most models don't even live to half that age. You can put that idea away unless you consider discounts of $500 to $1,000 something worthy of cake and kazoos, since it appears that's all the birthday SUV will get. That's right, not even a trim-and-tape special edition or so much as a sticker. We asked Toyota for comment and were told they had "No other 30th anniversary 4Runner items to announce at the time."
So, about those incentives: they climb from $500 on the SR5 and Trail editions to $750 on Premium models and $1,000 on the Limited trims. Toyota says they're available at dealerships now and will last for the entire year. There's a press release below with a little more background, and there's a sad violin playing somewhere in the distance.
Disappointed, party of one, your table is now ready...

Toyota takes self-driving step with patent for eyelid detection device

With the rise of smartphones and more advanced auto infotainment systems, combatting distracted driving is a growing concern. One day, fully autonomous vehicles could end the problem, but that solution is still at best years away for consumers. Until then, automakers are working to make the tech safer, and one way to do that is monitoring drivers' eyes to make sure they're paying attention. With a recent patent, Toyota thinks it can make the tracking work even better. In Japanese brand's patented solution, a camera constantly monitors the driver's upper and lower eyelids and uses the data to calculate how open the eyes are. The company admits systems like this already exist elsewhere, but they can sometimes return false results by detecting redeye instead of the location of a person's actual eyeball. To fix this, the automaker adds a further step to search for redeye. If it occurs where skin is already assumed to be, then the system can go back to tracking the accurate location of the eye. Toyota doesn't specify how it might use this technology, but more accurate data would always be useful. The company wouldn't be the first automaker to work on implementing eye detection, either. For example, General Motors has a pilot program using it to monitor distraction, and Jaguar Land Rover watches a driver's peepers to create the 3d image for its Virtual Windscreen. Related Video: