Nirvana

A few months ago, one of my colleagues at work invited me to take a look at his new Toyota Prius. He had to wait for six months prior to delivery since Toyota regulates the number of cars available on the market.My first experience with hybrid cars was at a car exhibition in Bangalore where the Reva was on display. It was too compact for my liking and had an ugly design and I was skeptical about it’s success. Moreover, you had to plug the car in overnight to charge the battery.

Half-expecting the Prius to be similar, unimpressed and apathetic, I stepped into his car as he pointed out it’s key features and described it’s pros/cons. A few minutes and a test drive later, I was mindblown by this engineering marvel. I got out of the car resolving that my next car, if there were to be any, would be a Prius.

Mind you, I am not a staunch tree hugger by heart but I do believe in recycling of nondegradable products, conserving our earth’s precious resources and preserving nature in it’s pristine condition for our future generations (which right minded person wouldnt?). If it requires us to give up the pickup speed of our car by a few seconds, it’s a small sacrifice.

Can you imagine the major impact the hybrid would have on the environs in a populated and congested city in India?!! The traffic crawls at a snail’s pace, the hybrid would be the ideal vehicle. I hope that Hyundai or Toyota are only a year away from launching their hybrids in India.

Wired features an article on hybrids in it’s April issue and the paragraph below stands out.

“Right now, there are about 800 million cars in active use. By 2050, as cars become ubiquitous in China and India, it’ll be 3.25 billion. That increase represents an enormous sales opportunity for automakers and an almost unimaginable threat to our environment. Quadruple the cars means quadruple the carbon dioxide emissions - unless cleaner, less gas-hungry vehicles become the norm.”

To read this interesting article on how hybrids work and Toyota’s innovative role and it’s marketing strategy, click the link below.

Wired 13.04: Rise of the Green Machine

Enjoy, Adios!

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