Toyota’s 2009 Tundra full-size pickup truck will add two new option packages from Toyota Racing Development (TRD).

The TRD Rock Warrior Package is designed for off-road appeal, while the TRD Sport Edition Package is optimized for street appearance.

TRD Rock Warrior will be available exclusively on the Tundra grade 4×4 Double Cab (standard bed) and CrewMax equipped with the 5.7-liter V8 engine. In addition to its tuned suspension, the Rock Warrior is equipped with Bilstein® shocks, TRD 17-inch forged alloy wheels with BF Goodrich® All-Terrain T/A tires, color-keyed front bumper and grille surround, matte-black rear bumper, fog lamps, black cloth interior with manual bucket seats, accessory shift knob and pedal covers, and TRD Rock Warrior side panel graphics. The Rock Warrior will come in two exterior colors, Black and Super White.

TRD Sport Edition will be available on the Tundra grade 4×2 Regular Cab and Double Cab (standard bed) with the 5.7-liter V8. The Sport Edition is equipped with color-keyed front and rear bumpers and grille surround, color-keyed heated outside mirrors, color-keyed door handles, fog lamps, black cloth interior with manual bucket seats, accessory shift knob and pedal covers, accessory 20-inch machined star five-spoke alloy wheels and TRD Sport Edition side panel graphics. The TRD Sport Edition will be available in two exterior colors, Black and Radiant Red.

Pricing for the TRD Rock Warrior and Sport Edition packages will be announced closer to their launch in November 2008.

With More Than 600,000 Vehicles on the Road,Toyota Also Looking at HV Battery Remanufacturing

Toyota announced that pricing for first- and second-generation NiMH Prius hybrid vehicle (HV) replacement batteries have been reduced by more than 10 percent. The price of the 2000-2003 first-generation Prius battery has been reduced to $2,299, while the 2004-2008 second-generation Prius battery is reduced to $2,588. Prior to this most recent price reduction, both batteries were priced at $2985.

“We are very pleased with the performance durability of the NiMh battery powering the Prius,” said Gary Smith, TMS corporate manager for Product Quality and Service Support. “However, there will be rare cases where owners will require a hybrid battery replacement beyond the mileage limits of the 10-year 150,000-mile warranty or 8-year/100,000-mile warranty in non-California compliant states. For the most part, these high-mileage customers have a positive ownership experience and want to keep their vehicle. We’ve stated from the beginning that battery replacement costs would continue to decline due to technology and volume related advancements, and we believe this will continue.”

Toyota also is studying the business case for remanufacturing Prius HV batteries in North America to further lower replacement costs. As the
popularity of the Prius – and units-in-operation – continues to grow, this venture is seen as a positive step in customer satisfaction with high-mileage owners who tend to keep their vehicles for an extended period of time.

Unique to the industry, Toyota is the only automaker to design, develop and manufacture its own hybrid batteries. Its Panasonic EV Energy (PEVE) Co., Ltd. (60 percent share) joint venture with Matsushita Electric produces all NiMH batteries for all Toyota and Lexus hybrids, as well as batteries for competitive hybrid models.

Last May, PEVE announced plans to establish a second battery production plant in Japan, to meet the growing global demand for HV batteries. Last month, Toyota announced that it would have a total production capacity of one million NiMH hybrid batteries per year by 2010.

Additionally, later this year, PEVE will be the first manufacturer to begin assembly-line production of lithium-ion batteries for automotive applications. These first-generation batteries will be used in a limited-volume placement program for a new lithium-battery powered PHV that will be leased beginning in late 2009 to fleet customers in Japan, Europe and North America.

The largest single-roof solar power installation in North America will begin operation in early October at Toyota’s North America Parts Center California in Ontario, California.

The solar installation will provide nearly 60 percent of the total electricity requirements for the 760,000-square foot structure. The installation covers more than 242,000 square-feet of the roof and includes 10,417 solar modules, enough to cover more than four football fields.

With a total capacity of 2.3 megawatts, the installation is capable of generating 3.7 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually, power that won’t be drained from the electrical grid. The system also will avoid carbon dioxide emissions of about 6.4 million pounds annually, equivalent to the annual CO2 emissions from energy use of 255 homes.

Electricity costs at the facility have increased 266 percent since 1992. Energy conservation efforts have reduced electricity usage by 28.5 percent during the past five years, but annual electricity use still remains over 5,788,000 kilowatt-hours.

The system was designed and built by SunPower, using its high-efficiency panels that deliver 50 percent more power per unit than conventional panels.

This is not Toyota’s first foray into solar power. The company’s South Campus headquarters building in Torrance, California features a system that covers 53,000 square feet of rooftop, also built by SunPower.

Toyota will display a compressed natural gas (CNG) Camry Hybrid concept vehicle at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November.

“CNG has become a prime energy-source for the future,” said Irv Miller, group vice president, TMS Corporate Communications. “With this concept, we are confirming our interest in pursuing CNG within our broad and comprehensive R&D scope.”

In 1999 Toyota marketed a CNG-powered four-cylinder Camry to fleet customers in California. However, in an era of relatively cheap gasoline, customers were not attracted to a vehicle that required special refueling techniques and a limited refueling infrastructure and the program was discontinued a year later. Currently, there are only about 1,000 CNG refueling stations nationwide, with less than half open to the public.

With gasoline prices rising, increased environmental awareness and a growing push in the US to find alternatives to oil imports, CNG is seen as having great potential for growth. Toyota evidently sees the potential for this market to open up as the CNG infrastructure grows and CNG becomes more economically viable.

“Natural gas,” adds Miller, “and an expanded retail-friendly CNG infrastructure could be seen as a model for future hydrogen infrastructure.”

Toyota, in collaboration with EDF Energy, has begun testing Toyota-produced plug-in hybrid vehicles on public roads in the United Kingdom.

The UK road tests, like those conducted with EDF in France starting in autumn 2007, involve setting up necessary infrastructure, evaluating vehicle performance and ease-of-use, and surveying participating vehicle users. Plans call for the test period to continue for more than one year.

The UK is the fifth country in which Toyota has conducted tests of plug-in hybrid vehicles on public roads, following tests that began in 2007 in Japan, the United States, France and Belgium.

While the current tests involve use of vehicles equipped with nickel-metal hydride batteries, Toyota is also accelerating development of plug-in hybrid vehicles equipped with lithium-ion batteries. Sales of the latter to fleet customers in Japan, the United States and Europe are planned to begin—ahead of the original schedule—by the end of 2009.