2001 Toyota Rav4l, Black Color With A Silver Stripe on 2040-cars

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Lexus reportedly working on two different successors to the LFA

The successor to the Lexus LFA is beginning to take shape — in unofficial rumors, at least. The firm's next supercar will reportedly make its debut in the coming years with a V8 under the hood, and it will be followed by a battery-electric model due out at the turn of the decade. Citing anonymous inside sources, Japanese magazine Best Car wrote that the long-awaited car that will take the torch from the limited-edition LFA will land in showrooms in 2025. As we've previously reported, it will be powered by a gasoline-electric hybrid powertrain built around a mysterious 4.0-liter V8 engine fitted with two turbochargers. The publication adds that the coupe, whose name hasn't been confirmed, will be launched as a regular-production model and that it will be built on a version of Toyota's TNGA-L platform. This is the same architecture found under the LC and the LS, among models, and using these foundations should allow Lexus to keep the car's cost in check. Engineers could peg the hybrid system's total output at around 700 horsepower, and Best Car reports that the car's front end will borrow styling cues from the Electrified Sport concept (pictured) introduced in December 2021. If the report is accurate, sales will start in 2025. Speaking of which, the Electrified Sport will make its debut with a battery-electric powertrain in 2030 at the earliest. Its design will evolve over the next eight-plus years; it sounds like what we saw in December 2021 more accurately previewed the hybrid supercar than the electric one. It could hit 60 mph from a stop in under 2 seconds, and it could offer a maximum driving range of over 430 miles. Interestingly, the same report points out that the Electrified Sport might use solid-state batteries. That technology's not ready, but Lexus has plenty of time to fine-tune it. Toyota GR GT3 Concept View 8 Photos On the Toyota side of the family tree, the GR GT3 concept unveiled in January 2022 is allegedly on its way to production (in one form or another) as well. It will initially spawn a race car built to GT3 specifications, as its name implies, and it will benefit from the lessons that engineers learned while designing a road-going, Le Mans-inspired hypercar that Toyota consigned to the automotive attic in August 2021. Whether the GR GT3 will be related to the LFA's successor is up in the air, though it doesn't take a significant stretch of the imagination to speculate that some parts will be shared.

2015 Toyota Prius V gets updated looks and content

The Toyota Prius V is the most utilitarian member of the Prii family with a big jump in cargo space over the rest but maintaining the great fuel economy. For the 2015 model year, the company is giving the wagon an update with a big shift in front end styling and upgraded taillights to go with the revised look. Inside, customers also get a little new technology, as well. The biggest change up front is the reshaped headlights and new bumper that look almost identical to the recent restyling of the Prius + in Europe. Though, the latest parts might be a little polarizing and almost make the wagon look like it has gills at each corner. The top level Prius V Five trim also adds integrated foglights to the design and headlights with LEDs for the high and low beams. Toyota is offering three additional colors too: Attitude Black Metallic, Absolutely Red and Toasted Walnut Pearl. Inside, drivers can get a new, eight-way adjustable power driver's seat on some models, and there's now a 4.2-inch TFT screen situated between the gauges on the Three trim level and higher to display information like fuel economy, navigation instructions, climate control settings and more. The upper versions also get Toyota's latest Entune infotainment system with a 6.1-inch high-res touchscreen with navigation. Finally, the Advanced Technology Package on the Five trim now includes Lane Departure Alert and Automatic High Beams. Mechanically, the Prius V remains unchanged thanks to the same 1.8-liter Atkinson-cycle, four-cylinder hybrid powertrain with nickel-metal hydride battery pack pumping out 134 net horsepower. Fuel economy stays at 44 miles per gallon city, 40 mpg highway and 42 mpg combined. Despite the upgraded looks, the base 2015 Prius V Two is $75 cheaper this year at $26,675, plus $825 destination. Although, the top Five model is $540 more at $30,935 before destination. The latest model year should start hitting dealers in December; scroll down for all of the specs and pricing.

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.