Recharge Wrap-up: Toyota Prius, V earn IIHS awards, Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV approved for V2H
The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV can now provide power to the home in Japan. The vehicle-to-home capability requires the CHAdeMO quick charging socket and either Mitsubishi’s own Smart V2H system, or the EVPower Station or Tsubaki eLINK system. The Outlander PHEV gained vehicle-to-home approval alongside all-electric vehicles because its electric motor doesn’t run when used in for this purpose. The system allows owners to power their homes during outages and emergencies, and the Outlander PHEV can also directly power appliances with its 1500W AC100V power feeder. Read more at Green Car Congress.
The Electric Vehicle Institute has published an updated “Plug-In Around the EV World” poster. The poster depicts the various connector types used by EVs. It shows the standard AC connectors for the US and Europe, DC and combination connectors for fast charging and, of course, Tesla’s own charging connector for the Model S. It also shows the standard plug types used around the world, which are color coded by country on a world map. See the Electric Vehicle Institute’s poster here, or read more at Green Car Reports.
Eight Toyota and Lexus Models Earn Institute’s Highest Top Safety Pick+
Four Toyota and Scion Vehicles Named Top Safety Picks
December 23, 2014
TORRANCE, Calif., Dec. 23, 2014 – On the 12th day of Christmas, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) gave to Toyota, 12 awards awarding. In fact, the automaker won more awards than any other automaker, including the most of the Institute’s highest honor.
In all, eight Toyota and Lexus vehicles earned a Top Safety Pick+ rating. IIHS in particular recognized the Prius V for its significantly improved performance all-around in the small overlap crash test – naming it a Top Safety Pick+. The Toyota Sienna was also the only minivan awarded the 2015 Top Safety Pick + designation. IIHS also recognized four additional Toyota and Scion vehicles as 2015 Top Safety Picks.
Toyota’s twelve awards overall were the most in the industry for 2015.
“At Toyota, our focus remains on the safety and peace of mind of our customers,” said Dino Triantafyllos, Toyota’s North American Chief Quality Officer. “We’re pleased the IIHS has recognized the strong and improved safety performance of our vehicles in a range of crash tests.”
2015 Toyota / Lexus Top Safety Pick+ winners are: Lexus CT (built after Sept. 2014), Toyota Prius, Toyota Camry, Toyota Prius v, Lexus RC, Toyota Highlander, Lexus NX and Toyota Sienna.
2015 Toyota / Scion Top Safety Pick Winners are: Toyota/Scion: Scion FR-S, Scion tC, Toyota Avalon and, Toyota RAV4 (built after Nov. 2014).
