Toyota Motors missed being the number one auto maker in the world in terms of sales by a mere 3,000 vehicles. The number one spot went again to General Motors which has held this spot since the 1930s. Though Toyota lost this time, it is fast gaining on the US Giant and it’s only a matter of time before it becomes the Numero Uno auto maker. Toyota is already the number one for hybrid cars, having sold over 1 million of them and plans to introduce all of its models in a hybrid version by the year 2020. Toyota Prius remains the most popular hybrid car in the world. Not long ago, Ford was the number two auto maker in the world - well, not anymore.

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Toyota announced plans to launch a lithium-ion battery powered, plug-in hybrid car in the US by 2010. The plug-in hybrid batteries can be charged using a standard electrical outlet. The first set of cars will be available to large fleet customers. The announcement was made at the Detroit Auto show and the timing of the launch goes head to head with GM’s launch of the Volt.

Toyota Prius is the most popular hybrid car and runs on nickel metal hydride batteries which do not offer the range and power of the lithium-ion batteries.

The GM HydroGen4 is the European version of the Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell. The HydroGen4’s fuel cell stack consists of 440 series-connected cells. The entire system produces an electrical output of up to 93 kW. With help from a 73 kW/100 hp synchronous electric motor, acceleration from zero to 100 km/h takes around 12 seconds. The front-wheel drive vehicle’s top speed is around 160 km/h. The car is a 4-seater with a 2+2 configuration. The car uses pressurized hydrogen as fuel and meets all US federal motor vehicle standards.

The 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe is the first full-size hybrid SUV and comes equipped with a 6.0 liter V8 powered Vortec gasoline engine and two compact 60kW electric motors powered by a 300-volt lithium-ion battery.

The hybrid version has undergone some design changes over the regular version which include some improved aerodynamic features and a lowering of the front by about 10 mm.

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Bloomberg news has reported that GM plans to make 60,000 Volt Electric cars for their inaugural year on the market. The plug-in hybrid concept car from GM named Volt is commonly referred to as an electric car rather than a hybrid. The design of the Volt is different from other plug-in hybrids in the sense that the car has a small 3-cylinder 1.0L Turbocharged gasoline engine which is connected to a generator to charge the batteries. This comes in handy for long distance driving and extends the range of the car to about 600 miles. The gasoline engine can be configured to run on any fuel type such as E-85, Gasoline or even Bio-diesel. There are even talks of GM introducing a hydrogen fuel cell version in the future.

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