Gallons Saved: Toyota Hybrid Marketing Billboard
by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 11.29.05
Smart marketing from Toyota. This billboard, using some unknown math (but the exact number of gallons isn't as important as reminding people of the general idea of conservation and fuel efficiency), is showing the amount of gasoline saved by people who drive vehicles powered by the Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive (HSD - the name of Toyota's hybrid system). Notice that no particular model is mentioned; it is the hybrid technology that is front and center.
This kind "vehicle agnostic" publicity is not surprising considering that Toyota had announced that it would market the HSD technology directly, and it is probably a smart move to build a strong "hybrid" brand and avoid getting people to focus too much on the "Prius" brand, especially since Toyota is planning to "hybridize" its whole lineup in the future.
Thanks to Frank G. from Car Buyer's Notebook for the picture.
::Toyota Hybrid Billboard Hits 100 Million Gallons Saved, ::Toyota: Better, Smaller, Cheaper Hybrid Systems in 2008, ::Toyota Introduces New Campaign For “Hybrid Synergy Drive”, ::Toyota To Go 100% Hybrid ::Toyota Camry Hybrid To Use 4-Cylinders Engine, ::First Photos of Next Generation Toyota Camry
First-ever analysis of green roofs’ ability to keep buildings warm in winter
|
The TH Interview: Dr. John Todd
|
Why does toyota get all the attention for hybrid technology? What about honda? What about the fact that my '04 Honda Insight (CVT mind you) get's 60-70mpg. I've talked to owners of Prius'es and haven't met one that can get over 43mpg to a tank. A friend of mine owns a Hybrid Civic and gets +50mpg to the tank.
I get why "Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive" is so neat. How things work has a great article on it. But, Honda has a vastly simpler, and proven more efficient hybrid technology.
Know that we do cover Honda hybrids. In fact, two of our most popular posts are about the Honda Civic hybrid 2006. It's just that there are less news about Honda.
I don't quite agree with you about the technology, though. I find that Toyota's system is quite a bit better and not more complex - unlike what "common sense" tells us (it also tells us that the earth is flat, at first).
When comparing cars, you have to compare apples to apples. The Honda insight is a small, very low volume (less than 60 units a month, I think) 2-seater made out of aluminum. The Prius is a mid-sized car (like the Camry or Accord) that represents about 7% of all cars sold by Toyota.
As for fuel economy comparisons, you either compare EPA to EPA, or real world to real world.
Considering it is much bigger in size and weight, the Prius does really well against the Insight, and the real world figures seem to be averaging at 48 mpg (go to http://www.greenhybrid.com/compare/mileage/ to see real world figures) while the insight is 55 for the CVT.
Also, until 2006 the Honda mainstream hybrids (Civic and Accord) were only rated ULEV in emissions while the Toyotas were AT-PZEV. That was a pretty big significant difference to me, and I'm glad Honda saw the light since ULEV wasn't all that impressive (many non-hybrid vehicle achive that level of emission).