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Recharge Wrap-up: Mirai earns Toyota "Most Innovative" honor, Tesla cold-weather range

A Tesla driver has graphed the effect of cold weather on the driving range of his Model S. Rob at Teslarati kept track of the amount of miles driven and energy used and mapped that against temperature readings to find how the colder temperatures affect efficiency. The results were an average of 10 miles of range lost for every 10-degree drop in temperature. Also, he calculated that drivers will lose about 25 percent more range when the roads are slippery. Read more at Teslarati. Albany Engineered Composites (AEC) is teaming with automotive engineering and consulting company Ricardo to provide lightweight components to the automotive industry. AEC produces composites for the aerospace industry, and having proven themselves in that field, they show promise for helping automakers make their cars lighter and more efficient without sacrificing structural integrity. "The agreement announced today is excellent news for our global automotive customers as we work to find further weight reductions in vehicles to meet future CO2 reductions," says Ricardo CEO Mark Garrett. With carbon composite prices expected to drop, Garrett believes this is an "attractive solution" for structural components. Read more at Ricardo's website. Toyota Motor Europe (TME) wants to recover all of its hybrid batteries for remanufacturing. TME currently recovers 91 percent of Toyota and Lexus batteries at the end of the vehicles' lives through dealerships, and is now working with independent end-of-life vehicle treatment operators to recover the rest. Beyond just being recycled, Toyota is looking into remanufacturing batteries for other vehicles or for stationary energy storage systems. Read more in the press release below. Fast Company Magazine has recognized Toyota as one of the 50 Most Innovative Companies for 2015 for its Mirai fuel cell sedan. "Toyota plans to do for fuel cells what its Prius did for hybrids: make them ubiquitous and top of mind for environmentally conscious consumers," says Fast Company. The article also notes that Toyota has also made its fuel cell patent public and invested in hydrogen fueling infrastructure. Toyota is ranked number 18 in the Most Innovative list, just below Tesla. Read more at Fast Company.

Toyota confirms 2014 Highlander is in a New York state of mind

Toyota has confirmed that it will be showing off the all-new 2014 Highlander at the New York Auto Show later this month. It's been a while since we've heard about the updated Highlander, but given just how long this thing has been on the market, we certainly hope that the list of changes will be more extensive than the new 2014 Toyota Tundra that debuted in Chicago last month.
Currently, the Highlander is offered in both naturally aspirated and hybrid versions, with front- and all-wheel drive. We don't expect the formula to change too much, since sales of the Japanese CUV are still steady - well in line with newer players in the segment like the Ford Explorer, Nissan Pathfinder and GM's Lambda triplets (Chevrolet Traverse, GMC Acadia and Buick Enclave).
We'll have the full skinny on the new Highlander in the coming weeks. For now, scroll down to read Toyota's incredibly brief press blast.

Toyota turning landfill gas into hybrid vehicles, indirectly

Chamillionaire certainly wasn't referring to the Toyota Avalon or Camry when he rapped about "ridin' dirty" but maybe he'll change his tune soon. That's because some of the future energy sources for the Kentucky factory that makes those two models will come from gas created from the breakdown of solid waste. So the power behind some of the production at Toyota's largest North American factory will indeed be funky. Toyota is working with Waste Services of the Bluegrass to build a network of wells at a nearby landfill in order to collect the gases. Construction of the system starts next month and will be finished by early next year. The upshot is that the system will produce one megawatt of electricity per hour, which is the equivalent to the power used by 800 houses. Last spring, Toyota said it would start producing the Lexus ES at the Kentucky plant after getting almost a $150 million offer from the state. That's because that model is expected to add 50,000 vehicles to the existing production numbers at the plant. And those production numbers are already large, as Toyota makes both the standard and hybrid versions of both the Camry and Avalon there. Mind you, Toyota's not the first to go this route for factory-energy production. In 2011, General Motors' Orion Assembly Plant started getting about 40 percent of its energy for production of models such as the Chevy Sonic and Buick Verano from methane captured from a landfill nearby. The General estimated at the time that the process would cut the company's energy costs by about $1.1 million a year. Check out Toyota's press release about the Kentucky plant and its future landfill gas below. Landfill Gas to Build Cars and a Greener Community Partnership between Toyota and local landfill turns garbage into good March 24, 2014 GEORGETOWN, Ky. (MARCH, 24 2014) – Can a car company be a vehicle for change? Toyota thinks so. The Kentucky plant that manufactures some of the greenest cars on the road, including two hybrid models, will soon be powered in part by green electricity. Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc. has teamed up with Waste Services of the Bluegrass to generate power from local landfill waste, marking the region's first business to business landfill gas to energy initiative. Toyota estimates the locally-generated landfill gas will supply enough power each year for the production of 10,000 vehicles. How it Works As solid waste naturally breaks down in a landfill, it creates gas.