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Lexus Eco Challenge rewards schools for clean water, briquette press projects

Teams from one New Jersey high school and one Michigan middle school reversed the old adage by thinking locally and acting globally. And that strategy won them the grand prizes in the most recent edition of the Lexus Eco Challenge. The future is indeed bright. The Toyota luxury-vehicle division gave out a half-million dollars in this year's contest. One $30,000 grand prize was awarded to the Pinelands Eco Scienteers from Little Egg Harbor, NJ, which produced and distributed low-cost briquette presses to rural villages beset by deforestation. The other grand prize went to the E.T. Electrical Team from Byron Center West Middle School in Michigan. That middle-school group raised money to send water filters to Haiti, Kenya and the Philippines. Lexus also awarded eight $15,000 first-place awards, with the winners including high schools from California, Florida, Missouri and Pennsylvania as well as middle schools from Arizona, Michigan, North Carolina and Texas. A special shout out goes to Daniel Boone Area High School in Birdsboro, PA, where students created an educational and public-relations campaign to publicize algae-based biofuels. In all, Lexus has doled out more than $4 million in Eco Challenge awards in seven years. Check out Lexus's press release below. Students Get Dollars and Sense in Lexus Eco Challenge - $500,000 Awarded to Teams Who Learn About Environment and Community Empowerment Two Grand Prize Teams Earn $30,000 Eight $15,000 First Place Awards Given to Innovative High School and Middle School Teams Students Bring Ideas to a Larger Audience and Make a Positive Impact on the World TORRANCE, Calif., (Feb. 24, 2014) – It's a win, win situation! Communities become a better place, and students, teachers and schools have the chance to share $500,000 in scholarships and grants through the Lexus Eco Challenge. This year, the $30,000 Grand Prize winners are the Pinelands Eco Scienteers from Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey, and the E.T. Electrical Team from Byron Center, Michigan. The Lexus Eco Challenge is an educational program and contest that inspires and empowers young people to learn about the environment and take action to improve it. High school and middle school teams nationwide define an environmental issue that is important to them, develop an action plan to address the issue, implement the plan, and report on the results.

Toyota claims hydrogen fuel cell breakthrough

Platinum isn't cheap. And it's a necessary component of hydrogen fuel-cell technology. Which means that Toyota's recent discovery of a way to better analyze how platinum breaks down is a bit of an H2 vehicle breakthrough. Toyota worked with the Japan Fine Ceramics Center (JFCC) to observe nanometer-sized platinum particles and, specifically, how they deteriorate. Platinum is used as a catalyst for when electrons are stripped away from the hydrogen molecule to create an electrical charge and when hydrogen ions and electrons mix with oxygen to create water vapor. So, when platinum gets more course during the countless chemical reactions inside of fuel cells, things slow down. Now that Toyota says it's figured out a better way to observe this process, greater efficiency and durability within the fuel-cell process of electricity production are likely to follow, though more chemistry study will be needed to figure out how that will work. Still, it's topical because Toyota last year started producing the world's first production hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle. The Japanese automaker debuted sales of the Mirai fuel-cell vehicle in Japan late last year and plans to start selling the car in California this fall (the car will be priced at $57,500). Toyota also plans to boost Mirai production to about 2,000 units in 2016 from about 700 this year. Take a look at Toyota's documents and video below. R&D Breakthrough Sets Stage for More Efficient, Durable Fuel Cell Stacks Toyota City, Japan, May 18, 2015—A breakthrough in the real-time observation of fuel cell catalyst degradation could lead to a new generation of more efficient and durable fuel cell stacks. Toyota Motor Corporation and Japan Fine Ceramics Center (JFCC) have developed a new observation technique that allows researchers to monitor the behavior of nanometer-sized particles of platinum during chemical reactions in fuel cells, so that the processes leading to reduced catalytic reactivity can be observed. Platinum is an essential catalyst for the electricity-producing chemical reactions occurring between oxygen and hydrogen in fuel cell stacks. Reduced reactivity is the result of "coarsening" of platinum nanoparticles—a process whereby the nanoparticles increase in size and decrease in surface area. Up until now, however, it has not been possible to observe the processes leading to coarsening, making it difficult to analyze the root causes.

2015 Toyota Tundra Bass Pro Shops Off-Road Edition a Gulf-State exclusive

Americans certainly have a fondness for pickup trucks with the Ford F-150 and Chevy Silverado frequently being among the top sellers each month, and that attachment is famously strong in the Lone Star State. We already saw Chevrolet unveil its Colorado Sport concept at the State Fair of Texas. Not to be outdone, Toyota debuted its new the 2015 Tundra Bass Pro Shops Off-Road Edition there, as well.
All of the Tundras use a 4x4 CrewMax SR5 configuration with the Tow Package, and they all come with Toyota's 5.7-liter V8 with 381 horsepower and a six-speed automatic gearbox. What actually sets these vehicles off as the Bass Pro Shops special edition is the 20-inch matte black wheels, tubular side steps, a spray-on bedliner, stainless steel exhaust tips and fender flares. To promote the connection with the store, there are Bass Pro Shops-branded floor mats and company decals on the bed. Of course, pickups are meant to get used, and to make sure of that, buyers also receive a package containing fishing, hunting, camping or marine gear worth about $1,000.
The special edition trucks will only be available in the Gulf States of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas beginning this October, and they'll carry a price of $43,975.