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CARB uses tricked-out RAV4 EV to measure air pollution in California

The old-school Toyota RAV4 EV you see above is the California Air Resources Board's version of a non-participant observer. The all-electric vehicle cruises around the state measuring airborne pollution. Since it's powered by batteries, there are no tailpipe emissions created as CARB tries to get a handle on how dirty the roadway air is. The problem, CARB says, is that it is difficult to measure air pollution levels, "during calm conditions at night and in the early morning." There are over 250 stationary air monitoring sites in California today, but the Board wanted a way to expand where and when it can test for things like ultrafine particles, carbon dioxide and nox. The original plan for the Mobile Monitoring Platform – as the RAV4 EV is officially called – was to "Investigate Spatial, Diurnal and Seasonal Pollution Gradients" on California's highways and ports. The RAV4 EV was originally expected to cost $280,000 (see pages 11-12 in this PDF from 2009), but a new report in the Modesto Bee says it had a total of $300,000 just in monitoring equipment. Michael Benjamin, CARB's chief of air monitoring, told the Bee that the MMP, "paints a thorough picture about what air quality is in any given community." More importantly, the stationary and mobile testing equipment can tell CARB when and where the air is getting cleaner. Which is the whole point, after all.

Toyota will race C-HR CUV in 2016 Nurburgring 24 Hours

There won't just be traditional racecars competing in the 2016 Nurburgring 24 Hours; Toyota Gazoo Racing will take the bizarre route of prepping the C-HR crossover for the grueling event. The squad will enter more conventional machines, too, including a Lexus RC and RC F for the race that will run from May 26-29. Details about the C-HR Racing are scant at the moment. "We decided to take on the new challenge of creating ever-better cars using a crossover rather than a pure sports car," the company's announcement said. It makes no mention of the vehicle's specs, but the included photo show the CUV with a more aggressive front fascia, vents along the hood, and a big wing at the rear. The driver lineup includes Masahiko Kageyama, Kumi Sato, and another person to be announced later. Toyota will reportedly introduce the production version of the C-HR at the Geneva Motor Show, and the final one will allegedly carry over the current rakish shape and hybrid powertrain. The company also showed it with Scion badging at the 2015 LA Auto Show to suggest a likely arrival in the US. This year will mark a decade of Gazoo Racing's competition in the 24 Hours of the 'Ring. The squad notably raced the LFA there for several years, but it showed a willingness to bring weirder vehicles too like a Lexus CT 200h in 2011. Nothing has been quite as odd as racing a crossover there, though. Toyota GAZOO Racing Celebrates Decade of Participation in the 24 Hours of Nurburgring with Triple Entry for 2016 Race Toyota City, Japan, January 15, 2016-Toyota GAZOO Racing announces the entry of three vehicles-a Toyota C-HR Racing*, a Lexus RC, and a Lexus RC F-in the 44th 24 Hours of Nurburgring endurance race to be held in Germany from May 26 to 29, 2016. The 24 Hours of Nurburgring plays an important role in Toyota's motorsports activities for building ever-better human resources and vehicles under intense racing conditions. Beginning in 2007, the 2016 event marks the 10th year of Toyota's participation in the race under the banner of GAZOO racing. When asked to look back over the last ten years, team representative Akio Toyoda said, "I remember GAZOO Racing first taking on the challenge of the Nurburgring in 2007 in an Altezza like it was yesterday. There are so many memories running through my mind–the interaction with the roads of the Nurburgring, whose characteristics seem to change with each shift in the weather, the meeting and parting with new and valuable friends.

New Toyota semiconductors could increase hybrid fuel efficiency by 10%

Toyota may have an ace up its sleeve in the fuel economy wars, as it's developed a new type of semiconductor that will allegedly help the company's hybrids net a ten-percent improvement in fuel economy.
The tech is still in development, although Toyota is already reporting five-percent gains during testing, six years before it plans to implement the new semiconductor in production vehicles, meaning the ten-percent improvement doesn't seem like an untenable goal. That is, until you hear from Kimimori Hamada, the project general manager of Toyota's electronics division.
"We are aiming for great improvement in fuel economy and miniaturization," Hamada told Automotive News. "This is a very challenging target."