Toyota commits to 'future' of all (Alan Katz and Kae

Toyota commits to 'future' of all (Alan Katz and Kae Inoue / BLOOMBERG NEWS) (The Washington Times)
Toyota Motor Corp., the world's second-largest automaker, said all its vehicles eventually will be run by hybrid gasoline-electric motors, as record fuel prices curb demand for conventional automobiles. "In the future, the cars you see from Toyota will b

Toyota invests $1 million at SRS (The State)
AIKEN In a boost to South Carolina s growing automotive industrial cluster, Toyota Motor Corp. has partnered with Savannah River National Laboratory to develop a lighter-weight and cost-effective hydrogen fuel storage system for future hydrogen-powered automobiles.Todd Wright, Savannah River National Laboratory s director, said the Toyota investment of about $1 million is a valuable endorsement

ABOUT HYBRIDS (The State)
Generally, a hybrid vehicle is powered either by an electric motor or by the combustion engine, or the systems can be used simultaneously. Hybrid engines have been touted as a way to make automobiles more fuel efficient, but at a cost. Current hybrids tend to cost between $4,000 and $9,000 more than counterparts with regular engines under the hood, a premium that carmakers hope to reduce

Fuel cells get chemical boost (Instrumentation Systems and Automation Society)
Heat has always been a problem for fuel cells. There's usually either too much, as with ceramic fuel cells, for certain portable uses, such as automobiles or electronics, or too little as with polymer fuel cells, to be efficient.

U.S. Economy: Non-Auto Sales, Manufacturing Rise (Update3) Listen (Bloomberg.com)
Sept. 14 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. consumers kept spending on goods other than automobiles, and factories kept humming last month, evidence the economy was able to withstand record fuel costs prior to Hurricane Katrina.