prius+

For the last three generations of the Toyota Prius' existence, Toyota has been curiously tight-lipped about the official plural form of the car's name. This has led to years of confusion, as journalists, dealers, and Prius enthusiasts--yes, they exist--coined all sorts of awkward terms, such as the difficult to say Priuses.

With the unveiling of the Prius V and the Prius C concept and the automaker's plans to expand Prius into a hybrid sub-brand, Toyota, for the first time, was forced to officially choose a plural form of Prius. So, the automaker crowdsourced it, running a contest on … Read more

The Prius is still the monster among hybrid cars, but EVs and newer hybrids have stolen a fair amount of its thunder. Is the Prius Plug-in enough of an innovation to keep Toyota out front as the brand that means high tech power trains? Or is too subtle an evolution? Brian Cooley mulls that over as he takes you for a drive and checks the tech.

At the upcoming 2011 Geneva auto show, Toyota will find a new hood under which to cram its Hybrid Synergy Drive (HSD) with the unveiling of a Yaris HSD concept. The automaker will also grow its Prius family of hybrids (in more ways than one) when it rolls out the larger Prius+.

In the wake of the 2011 Detroit auto show's unveiling of the compact Prius C and larger Prius V concepts, the compact Yaris HSD and larger Prius+ concepts seem like a bit of déjà vu. However, the upcoming Prius+ will seat seven passengers versus … Read more

The electric ForTwo and the Lexus LF-A debut for very different audiences. Verizon tries but can anybody beat Google maps on Android? The car key that doubles as a wallet. And we drive the BMW 740i, the thinking person's 7 Series.

• Lexus LF-A being delivered

• And the first electric Smart ForTwo being delivered!

• Can Verizon VZ Navigator ever top Google Maps on Android?

• Solar road melts the snow that falls on it

• CNET's picks for must-have car tech features… Read more

They don't go up for sale until 2012, but Zipcar has managed to snag eight Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles (PHV) for its members to rent as part of a testing program with Toyota for the prototype vehicles.

Zipcar locations in Boston and Cambridge, Mass., San Francisco, and Portland, Ore., will receive the plug-in Prius cars, which have an electric range of up to 13 miles on a full battery and can be charged from a standard 110-volt outlet in up to 3 hours. For longer distances, the plug-in Prius achieves an average of 50 mpg, according to Toyota. … Read more

Toyota Prius V, Hyundai Veloster, new Audi A6 hybrid, and BMW 1 Series M all vie for our attention.

? 2012 Toyota Prius V

? 2012 Hyundai Veloster

? New Ford Police Interceptors

? Mercedes SLS AMG E-Cell

? New Chrysler 300

? CNET's LOLCars gallery!

It looks like automakers will be required by law to add audible alerts to silent-running electric vehicles to keep sight-impaired pedestrians safe.

President Barack Obama this week signed into law the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act (S. 841), which will protect the blind and other pedestrians from injury as a result of silent-vehicle technology, said the National Federation of the Blind.

The new bill, sponsored by Senator John Kerry, and 29 other co-sponsors, allows the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) begin crafting standards for an alert sound.

"The National Federation of the Blind is pleased that this critical legislation … Read more

The first 40 miles you drive in a fully charged 2011 Chevrolet Volt uses energy stored in the 16kWh battery to propel the vehicle, with the 1.4-liter gas engine kicking in only when the battery is drained and needs to be recharged. But GM engineers are working on a switch for the British version of the Volt, the Vauxhall Ampera slated for 2012, that will let U.K. drivers decide when to drive in electric-only mode and when to use the gas engine, according to an article in TheGreenCarWebsite.co.uk.

The tweak is designed to suit the driving … Read more

Toyota Motor will pay to fix about 650,000 Prius models worldwide for a coolant pump glitch that could cause the top-selling hybrid to overheat and lose power, the automaker said.

The repair campaign covers Prius cars for the model years 2004 to 2007. The bulk of the cars, or 378,000 units, are in the United States.

The Japanese automaker said it had not received any reports of accidents or injuries from problems with the pump, which circulates coolant for the hybrid system.

Major automakers, including Toyota, often conduct repair campaigns that are separate from safety recalls filed with … Read more