Toyota News Wednesday – Supermodels, Media Fiascos, and More

Today’s post will tackle three topics:

• Swimsuit model Rianne Ten Haken meets the Lexus LFA
• A member of the media wonders why people keep listening to Sean Kane
• The Toyota Prius crushes new Chevy Volt in “Greenest Car” ratings

First up, watch this swimsuit model meet the new Lexus LFA (while wearing a swimsuit, no less)

Not much to say here – just fun video to watch.

Media Comments on Media Coverage of “Unintended Acceleration” Fiasco

The entire unintended acceleration story – from poor investigative reporting to public panic to political finger pointing to vindication – would make a nice book. If you’re sick of hearing about this issue, I understand. However, check out this commentary from Bloomberg’s Ed Wallace:

Many of these people being used as experts are often guided purely by financial gain. They craft and sell these stories to the media in pursuit of their own private goals, never wasting a thought for whom or what company their intentional misinformation will damage or how many hard-working people’s incomes they’ll destroy…once their misrepresentations are discovered and known, how can the media ever trust going back to these same individuals when they were misled so badly?

Wallace is speaking of Sean Kane, a so-called “safety advocate” who has been exposed as, at best, incompetent. Last week, I railed against the LA Times for continuing to use Kane as a source of quotes despite the fact his credibility is questionable.

At what point will members of the media finally acknowledge that Toyota’s electronics are fine? When will they finally realize Kane isn’t trustworthy?

It seems that, at the end of the day, members of the media would simply rather attack Toyota with vague comments than acknowledge facts uncovered by MIT, Exponent, NASA, NHTSA, and others. It’s a sad commentary on news organizations when Sean Kane can still get a mention in a story.

Special thanks to Danny for sending us the link to the Bloomberg story.

Prius Is Greener Than Volt

For the last 3 years or so, GM has been bragging about the just-now-available Chevy Volt. While the Volt has some great features – Who wouldn’t enjoy driving 30 to 40 miles per day without using any gas? – GM has spent quite a bit of time talking about how “green” the Volt is. GM has won some green awards and honors over the last couple of years, and it’s a safe bet that many consumers think the Volt is an environmentally friendly automobile.

However, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), there are 11 vehicles “greener” than Chevy’s Volt.  The ACEEE rated the Volt 12th overall because, assuming the vehicle can only be driven in electric-only mode 64% of the time, it’s not terribly fuel efficient. Says an ACEEE spokesman “As a gasoline vehicle, the [Volt’s] fuel economy is not stellar.”

The Prius – which has been the world’s most successful hybrid vehicle since the words “hybrid vehicle” entered our vocabulary – ranked 4th overall. When you consider that the Prius finished behind a minicar (Smart For Two), a limited production all-electric car (the Nissan Leaf), and an even more limited production CNG Civic, one could argue that the Prius is effectively number one.

Since the ACEEE penalizes heavier vehicles due to their perceived higher recycling costs and/or production emissions, the Volt’s 12th place ranking is likely too low. Still, the Volt’s poor performance in the ACEEE report has gotta hurt.