The name Prius is Latin for "to go before." Toyota chose the name for its petrol-electric hybrid vehicle because it believes it is a forerunner of cars to come. The Prius is fascinating, more fuel-efficient and cleaner burning than a conventional petrol engine. It was launched in Japan in 1997 and is now being sold in the United States. Toyota New Zealand has been testing it for a year but is not sure whether it will sell the vehicle here. Managing-director Bob Field donated a Prius to Jo Breese, chief executive of the New Zealand arm of the World Wide Fund for Nature, an organisation Toyota has supported for 16 years.
Worthy thrills
The Porsche Club of New Zealand raised more than $20,000 for the Child Cancer Foundation at Pukekohe on Saturday, despite the wet weather. While the annual fundraising day was hugely successful, the track was too slippery for Owen Evans and his Le Mans racing Porsche. Evans will take the seven people who booked a blast in his race car for a spin this weekend when, he hopes, better weather will allow him to exploit the car's power and give his passengers their money's worth.
Sophisticated Citroen
Most carmakers get into sponsorship, where they provide a vehicle at a favourable cost to a sports star, for example. But Citroen has lifted the tone by handing over the keys to a Berlingo van to the New Zealand Opera. Citroen-owners tend to be the sort of people who are culturally aware, said the carmaker's general manager, Andrew Butchart. "We wanted to align that awareness with an activity that reflects the sophisticated tastes of our customer base." The sophisticated tastes of its original customer base in France were sort of cultural, too. Citroen invented the easy-riding 2CV for farmers so they could carry eggs across a ploughed field without breaking them.
What a gas
A train of thought coming out of Europe says the billions of dollars being poured into hydrogen fuel-cell development helped to trigger the latest rise in the price of crude oil. The use of hydrogen in cars will be widespread inside 10 years, say carmakers. Even the Australians say they will have hydrogen filling stations running in the main centres by 2009. What will happen to the oil-producing countries when the cars and trucks we drive run on water?
Capital punishment
If you always thought drivers in Wellington were bad, your impressions were right. Almost 5000 vehicles (4932 to be precise) were stopped last week in a five-day speed blitz in the capital and 3984 infringement notices were issued. The fastest speeds recorded were by one motorist travelling at 156 km/h in a 100 km/h zone and another at 102 km/h in a 50 km/h area. Both drivers automatically lost their licences. Another motorist was clocked driving at 117 km/h in a 70 km/h zone. Senior Sergeant Tony Collins says the results are disappointing. "A lot of offenders said they either didn't know the speed restriction or realise how fast they were travelling."
We are the world
* Bentley and Aston Martin are recalling cars from the rich and famous. The mega-dollar Bentley Arnage Red needs alterations to stop a fuel pipe rubbing against the exhaust. Aston Martin V12 Volantes made between 1993 and 1999 have a potentially lethal steering fault: the most popular Aston, the DB7, has "insufficient welding" under a steering bracket.
* Fire departments in the former Russian republic of Georgia have plenty of water but they are struggling for fuel. Brigades will attend fires only if they are given enough fuel for their engines to get there.
Clean option
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