Car10

Nine children around the country have been selected as the Irish finalists of the 2022 Toyota Dream Car Art Contest, writes Brian Byrne . Their entries will now go forward to compete in the global competition. The competition is in its 15th year and is aimed at children aged 15 and under, asked to create their vision of what are the cars we'll be driving in the future. There are three age categories — 7 and under, 8-11 Years and 12-15 Years. The finalists making it through to the global competition are: 7 and Under — 1st Prize Mia Wiercioch Chinatamunnee, (Age 7, from Cavan) “Whale Car”; 2nd Prize Emma Guo (Age 7, from Dublin) “Water Making Car”; 3rd Prize Adam Goku Wiercioch Chinatamunnee (Age 5, from Dublin) “Cat Car”. 8-11 Years — 1st Prize  Preksha Tushar Utekar (Age 9, from Mullingar) “Supra Martian Car”; 2nd Prize Johan Felix Peter (Age 10, from Tullamore)  “To the Moon and Back!”; 3rd Prize Sophie Maria Vaughan (Age 8, from Ballyscanlon) “Hydro Girl Power”. 12-15 Years ...

The Yaris Cross self-charging hybrid electric car has been named 2022 World Urban Car by the organisers of the World Car Awards, writes Brian Byrne . The awards are given by a 102-member jury of international automotive journalists from 33 countries. Launched in 2021, the Toyota Yaris Cross follows in the footsteps of the Yaris, named The Car of the Year in Europe in 2021.  Zoe Bradley, head of marketing communications, Toyota Ireland said the Yaris Cross hybrid 'ticks a lot of boxes' for both urban and rural drivers. Prices start at €28,050. 

Could this be the next generation steering 'yoke' from Lexus? writes Brian Byrne . It comes in a teaser photograph for a new electric car from the Toyota premium brand due for full reveal on 20 April. It will be the brand's first dedicated electric model and is a crossover called the RZ. The car is related to the upcoming Toyota BZ4X EV, which in Chinese markets is offered with a similar aircraft-style yoke. Toyota plans to launch 30 RVs across its two brands by 2030. For a long time the pioneer of the hybrid petrol-electric powertrains declined to get into the EV market, hyping its hybrids as a more sustainable option.  

Toyota Ireland has announced that online reservations for its new bZ4X electric car have now closed, and further enquiries should be made through Toyota dealers, writes Brian Byrne . It is the first of a new family of electric cars which will all have the bZ designation, representing Beyond Zero. The bZ4X is arriving in Ireland in June and prices start from €43,402. The company says there were more than 2,000 expressions of interest when online reservations opened. Dealers are now taking orders for the remaining allocations of the model to Ireland for this year.  

Toyota Ireland has opened online reservations for the brand's first all-electric car, the b74X, writes Brian Byrne . With prices starting from €43,402, the awkwardly-named car will be available in three grades — Advance, Sport and Premiere Edition — and a rated battery range of 450km-plus. The first allocations have been fully-booked by those who registered early interest. The car will arrive in June of this year. Online reservations can be made here .   

Toyota Ireland has opened online reservations for the new Aygo X, coming to this country ion mid-April, writes Brian Byrne . A small urban crossover, the Aygo X will have a starting price of €18,035. Reservations can be made online by those who haven't already registered their interest from 16 February by going to this link .  The car will have all of Toyota's latest driving and safety assist technology available.  

Toyota Ireland closed out 2021 with a 12.44pc share of the new car market, reflected by having four of its models in the Irish top ten sellers, writes Brian Byrne . More than nine in ten of the brand's sales were for its low emission self-charging hybrid electric vehicles. Toyota sold 13,053 passenger cars in 2021, which represents more than a 30pc year-on-year increase. The second biggest selling brand was Volkswagen with 12.02pc market share, followed by Hyundai (10.24pc, Skoda (8.6pc) and Ford (7.10pc). The top selling models were Hyundai Tucson, Toyota Corolla, Toyota Yaris, Volkswagen Tiguan, and Toyota C-HR.  

Toyota has revealed its first battery-electric car, the bZ4X SUV which will arrive in Ireland in May of next year, writes Brian Byrne . The car will have a front-wheel drive electric motor with 204hp and there will also be an AWD version. The bZ4X has been given a provisional range of more than 450km, and Toyota says an 80pc charge can be achieved in 30 minutes at a 150kW charging unit. An optional 3-phase on board charger will be available from later in the year. Cabin heating is by heat-pump, augmented by infra-red under-dash heating for the front occupants. Potential customers can register their interest through Toyota.ie .  

A Guinness World Record has been set by the Toyota Mirai fuel cell car of 1,360 kilometres without refuelling, writes Brian Byrne . The distance was achieved on a single fill of hydrogen which took just five minutes to do. With hydrogen as the fuel source, the only emissions from the car was water vapour. The trip was undertaken over two days around California in the USA. It was estimated that an equivalent internal combustion engine car would have emitted around 300kg of CO2 on the same trip.  

Ahead of its arrival in Ireland next April, Toyota has given details of its new Aygo X, the first crossover in its segment, writes Brian Byrne . The car will be built on the same platform as the latest Yaris and that model's own crossover variant, the Yaris Cross Hybrid SUV. The Aygo X will feature a wedge-shaped roofline, high-tech lights design, and a large grille with integrated fog lamps and skid plate. The latest Aygo will be longer than the predecessor city car, and offer more luggage space to make it lead the segment in this regard. An improved version of the familiar 1.0 3-cylinder petrol engine will power the car.  

Although Toyota is not yet marketing a battery-electric vehicle (BEV) the company is pouring more than €11.6bn into battery development over the next nine years, writes Brian Byrne . Building on the experience gained through the batteries in some 18m Toyota hybrid cars sold to date, the company is expecting to be able to cut battery costs through 2030 by half, and increase their efficiency by 30pc. In addition, the carmaker believes it can improve battery degradation levels so much that a 10-year-old battery will still have 90pc of its original capacity. The upcoming EV from Toyota, the bZ4X BEV joint venture with Subaru which has already been revealed in concept form (above), will be the first of a range of EVs to benefit from this. Toyota is looking to solid state batteries as the future of affordable BEVs, and is testing a prototype in a car at this time. More information about the bZ4X in the Irish context will be forthcoming towards the end of this year.  

Pre-sale reservations for Toyota's new RAV4 PHEV have been fully subscribed, writes Brian Byrne . First deliveries of the car, which has a starting price of €49,390, will be in January, in the Sport grade. A Sol grade will arrive in March. It is the first vehicle which Toyota Ireland have offered in a pre-sale opportunity, and the first allocations were reserved by 1 October. The car will offer up to 75km in electric motoring from the rechargeable battery.  

A new small car crossover from Toyota will arrive in Ireland in March of next year, writes Brian Byrne . The Aygo X has been designed in Europe and will be fully revealed in November. The current Aygo, the company's smallest car here, is a model that was developed jointly with Peugeot and Citroen, but the Aygo X will be exclusively a Toyota. Indicative pricing will come with the November reveal.