Toyota to cut hybrid weight and cost by 2009

It is just unbelievable... the comments on this website I mean.. It seems like every person putting comments out there on a new Toyota seems to be sexually very frustrated or never been loved as a child.. :lol: .. BUT once the Toyota comes out these morons are the first ones to pickup the new Toyota. :lol:

http://hybrids.autoblog.com/2006/10/04/toyota-to-cut-hybrid-weight-and-cost-by-2009/

They are going to have to cut the costs or the sales of hybrids will most likely wane due to operation costs of gas vs hybrid and right now, gas is gettin pretty "cheap" again.

"
Paying for popularity
The credit-cut clock started ticking in June for Toyota, the acknowledged leader, primarily due to the popularity of its Prius model.

That month the automaker sold its 60,000th hybrid. That included not only the Prius, coveted by celebrities and not-so-famous drivers alike, but also versions of the automaker's Camry, Highlander and luxury Lexus models. In total, eight Toyota/Lexus hybrids are credit certified.
Under the credit guidelines, the tax break will be phased out over the next five calendar quarters. In the short term, that means if you buy an eligible Toyota hybrid on or after Oct. 1, your tax credit is cut in half. The longer you wait, the more your credit is reduced, until it disappears on alternative fuel Toyotas purchased on or after Oct. 1, 2007.
This table shows what the buyer of a Prius, which at $3,150 offers the largest credit available under the new law, can expect in coming months.
Tax credit events and deadlines for Toyota Prius buyers


Jan. 1, 2006: Tax credit becomes available for Prius hybrids purchased on and after this date (through Dec. 31, 2010). Available credit: $3,150
June 2006: Toyota sells a total of 60,000 hybrids (all models). Available credit: $3,150
July 1, 2006 through Sept. 30, 2006 (first quarter after sales target reached): Prius purchased during this period still eligible for full credit. Available credit: $3,150
Oct. 1, 2006 through March 31, 2007 (second and third quarters after sales target reached): Prius purchased during this period eligible for 50 percent of original credit. Available credit: $1,575
April 1, 2007 through Sept. 30, 2007 (fourth and fifth quarters after sales target reached): Prius purchased during this period eligible for 25 percent of original credit. Available credit: $787.50
Oct. 1, 2007 and beyond: No tax credit allowed for Prius purchases. Available credit: $0 And while the table uses the Prius' dollar amounts, the percentage limits apply to all Toyota or Lexus hybrids bought during the five post-60,000-sales quarters. (In other words, dollar amounts vary with the model.)"


http://biz.yahoo.com/brn/060921/19425.html?.v=1

Down here (The Netherlands) you pay three kind of taxes for buying/using a car:

1st one is called BPM. This is tax you pay when buying a new car. Is about (correct me if i'm wriong) 20% of the showroom price. For clean cars the tax is lower, for more poluting cars the tax is higher. For a Prius you pay around €1000,- less, and for a Hummer you pay around €1000,- more.

2nd is the road-tax. Tax for using the roads. This is not like toll-roads. You pay the same amount a if you only ride 10k or 20k a year. It is based on the weight of the car. So how heavier the car, the more you pay. For Hybrids the extra weight added to the car by the battery pack is not counted. There are no indications that this advantage going to be cut in the near future.

3th is a feul tax. We pay tax for every liter of feul we buy at the gasstation. So, how more you use, the more you pay. Feul around here cost (talking about RON-95 gasoline) €1,27 a liter. During the last periode when the prices where high we did even had to pay up to €1,47 a liter. As a Hybrid driver the only advantage you have here is the lower consumption of the vehicle.

But Toyota is on the right track. The biggest problem of Hybrids is the weight of the battery pack. By cutting that weight by 50% not only will the vehicle becomes cheeper in taxes, but making the vehicles even more economical because less weight means less weight to move arround means less feul consumption (or higher speed.....).

And Toyota needs to hurry with this one because it gets some seriously competition from diesel-engines down here in Europe. Car manufactures are investing a lot of money in making diesel engines not only more economical, but also allot cleaner.