Cars

We are going to change the way we drive. Gas powered cars are going to be a thing of the past. Joseph Romm has an article about Toyota's forward thinking.

Those who follow the energy/climate issue and Toyota, however, are not surprised. Alone among major car companies, Toyota has taken seriously both peak oil and global warming. So Toyota has understood for a long time something that Detroit and conservative politicians don't -- the car of the future has high fuel efficiency and the ability to use an inexpensive low-carbon fuel. That makes the hybrid vehicle, with its ability to transition to the plug in, the most important vehicle platform of the century (see "Plug-in hybrids and electric cars -- a core climate solution, nationally and globally").

The other lesson for car companies is that you need to use most of the hybrid technology to save gasoline, not increased power. Honda failed to understand that with their Accord hybrid (see here and here). With 255 horsepower and city mileage of 25 mpg (!), the car sold 25,000 units since 2004, and a mere 6,100 of the 2007 mode. Honda will not be hybridizing the next generation in 2008.

Kudos to Toyota.