Mind-controlled wheelchairs are becoming all the rage these days, but before you start letting your thoughts wander elsewhere, this latest from researchers at the Brain Science Institute (BSI) -- Toyta Collaboration Center have what they claim is a system that'll control the ride using brain waves analyzed every 125 milliseconds, which it boasts bests the competition by several seconds. Testers using the wheels and EEG cap system have achieved accuracy up to 95 percent which, as you can see in the video after the break, will make cubicle obstacle courses a challenge of the past. So what mindset do we have to be in to trigger the flames?

[Via Switched]

Just hours after General Motors put forth a proposal for a standardized plug for electric vehicles, in flies this. German energy firm RWE has stated that a cadre of respected automakers and energy firms have all come together in agreement on a three-point, 400-volt plug that will enable electric cars the world over to be recharged anywhere, regardless of which recharging station they stop at. Caroline Reichert, an RWE spokeswoman, noted that the idea here is to ensure that "a car can be recharged in Italy in exactly the same way as in Denmark, Germany or France." We're told that the agreement includes nods of acceptance from the likes of Volkswagen, BMW, Ford, General Motors, Fiat, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Eon, Vattenfall, EDF, Npower, Endesa and Enel, and while there's no time frame for when it'll be introduced, we're pretty stoked to hear that at least something has been decided upon.

Not like you didn't already know everything there was to know about the 2010 Prius, but in all seriousness, here's a snippet we'll bet you weren't aware of. Autoblog has pointed out that Toyota's next-generation hybrid will sport an all new Touch Tracer Display that will enable steering wheel commands to appear atop the speedometer whenever a button is pushed. The upside? Rather than glancing down at your wheel (and thus, away from oncoming traffic), you'll be able to see the options while keeping your head up and eyes on the road. Naturally, we'd expect this little innovation to spread far and wide across Toyota's fleet in the not-too-distant future.

Just in case you haven't heard enough in regard to green automobiles today, Toyota's FCHV has been broken down good fashion and photographed by our pals at AutoblogGreen. The hydrogen-powered SUV sports a pretty sophisticated get-up-and-go system, which is comprised of four separate storage tanks in order to keep the hydrogen compressed to 10,000psi. Once the compressed gas leaves those tanks, it passes through regulators that "reduce the pressure to something the PEM fuel cell stack can process." The bottom line? This thing can traverse some 350 miles on a fresh fill. If your ears just perked up, give the read link a visit to get yourself more acquainted.

Not only does the impending plug-in Prius poop rainbows and chill out with unicorns, it's also doing pretty good for itself in "real world" MPG testing. Toyota claims they're hitting 65 mpg on average, 10 mpg higher than the brand new 2010 Prius "regular," and credit that fancy new lithium ion battery, which lets the car store up a lot more energy than an average hybrid. They also claim that this didn't involve any special hypermiling techniques, the drivers were instructed to drive like any other vehicle.

We already knew that Daimler was looking in Tesla's direction for electric vehicle batteries, but we certainly didn't know that those passing glances were only the beginning of an underground battle for supply chain supremacy. As automakers struggle to move cars from lots, it's being reported that some -- Toyota, Tesla, Daimler and Nissan, in particular -- are looking to parts fulfillment for profit. Toyota already has an edge on its rivals by being one of the only companies to actually produce its own batteries, and if demand begins to outstrip supply, other car makers could come running in hopes of stocking up. Of course, you've also got Nissan ramping up production in order to equip some 200,000 electric / hybrid vehicles annually over the next few years, so who knows if all this scheming will eventually backfire. Though, if one firm can somehow figure out how to make their battery stronger, more potent, lighter and cheaper -- well, we needn't tell you how that would play out.

[Image courtesy of AutoBeYours]

The very shoe-like 2010 Toyota Prius has made its official debut at this week's Detroit Auto Show. The company estimates it'll have a 50 MPG rating -- up from 46 MPG in the previous model -- and there's a bigger, 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine for improved highway mileage. In addition to Power and Eco driving modes, EV Drive will let you run on battery alone for about a mile, which if nothing else should provide a little extra push for getting to the gas station when you've held off for too long. One of the coolest (literally) new features is the optional solar panels in the moonroof that will generate power for circulating air and keeping the interior temperature from going too high. If that's not enough, there's a remote-controlled A/C system that can run on battery alone and lets you set the temperature before you get in. Check out the read link for more specs and the full press release.

While we were living large at CES in Las Vegas yesterday, Toyota's people were up in Detroit, working hard to amp up the crowd at the North American International Auto Show. The world's largest auto maker fulfilled promises by giving more information about an upcoming electric car, showing off a concept called the FT-EV. Based on the iQ ultra-compact, which is currently available in Japan in petrol-powered guise, the battery version has a range of just 50 miles, making it suitable only for those living in those most urban of suburbs. Hopefully it gains a bit more stamina before it (or something similar) goes into production in 2012. Toyota also gave some further information about its impending plug-in Prius, indicating that before the end of the year it will lease 500 prototypes to consumers to act as mobile beta testers prior to the full release of the car. Only 150 of those will be available in the States, though, so you can go ahead and leave "Install extra outlet in garage" low on your to-do list for another year or so

Around half a year ago, we heard that Toyota was engineering a Prius that would get part of its energy from the sun; now, we're seeing an eerily similar story from Japan suggesting that the plan is still on. In a rather odd report, it's noted that the automaker is "secretly (oh, is it now?) developing a vehicle that will be powered solely by solar energy," though it's also working on a partially solar-powered whip that'll come out long before the pure solar alternative. Regrettably, details beyond that are few and far between, though the premise here is completely reasonable given the current economy and the desire for automobiles that run on anything other than petroleum. Guess we'll check back in six months for yet another elusive report on the so-called progress.

Among the small clutch of green autos on view at the Detroit auto show early next year, Toyota will be debuting an as-yet-unnamed all electric car concept. This is meant to demonstrate the company's commitment to electric, a move which only makes sense, seeing as the whole "peak oil" thing is pretty much destined to make the gas guzzler obsolete. Still, the car arrives without much fanfare or details -- all we really know is that it's all electric and that it's smaller than a Prius. This comes after the Japanese automaker's push into electric fuel cell development and their stated intention to have an EV on the market alongside the next gen Prius hybrid in 2010. Of course, we all thought we'd have flying cars by 2010, but the industry's inability to produce a robust all-electric motor has certainly put the kibosh on that once great dream.

Update: When we initially posted this item, we ran it with a pic of Toyota's iQ (a perfectly reasonable move in lieu of the fact that Toyota has yet to release a picture of the car). After Engadget Spanish turned us on to a more suitable image, we moved the iQ car after the break.

[Via Wired]

We thought we had a handle on what the next-gen Prius was going to look like when we spotted those renders back in July, and Toyota's just confirmed that some press shots that leaked out last week are the real deal, not just photos of a super-high-tech sneaker. The company isn't providing any more information until the official debut at January's North American International Auto Show in Detroit, but we're hoping we'll get some more details about those plug-in fleet tests, as well as those solar plans. Check a few more shots at links below.

[Thanks, Miko34]

Read - 2010 Prius photos on Prius Chat
Read - Toyota corporate blog

We've got airbags in the front, airbags to the side, even airbags on the hip -- and now Toyota's installing the first rear-collision airbags into its Japan-only iQ minicar. The bags are designed to protect rear seat passengers, and inflate from above the rear window to blanket your noggin and reduce impact force to the head by half. The new system will be installed in iQ's by the end of the year, no word on whether it'll come to the States anytime soon.

If you've been hoping to get your hands around the wheel of one of those eco-friendly plug-in Priuses (Priuii?), maybe it's time to bite the bullet and finally move to the UK... just like you've been telling all your friends you're going to do one of these days. According to a report, Toyota is gearing up for the first trials of the ultra-high-MPG car starting tomorrow at an event in London's Hyde Park. An invite mailed to select members of the media (British media, we assume) states: "the purpose of our UK trial is to evaluate not only vehicle performance, but also the electrical infrastructure required, as well as driver behaviour and expectations. The results will play a key role in preparing for the future commercialisation of Plug-in Hybrid technology." So if you've ever wanted to watch one of these planet-huggers race silently around a British landmark, here's your chance.

As astutely pointed out by our friends at The Red Ferret Journal, it's a bit odd to see hybrid car makers cutting down on noise while electric car makers are looking to add it back in, but Toyota's silence isn't of the kill-a-biker sort. Toyota has worked internal noise-canceling into its new Crown hybrid, with microphones to pick up engine and road noise, and then speakers to blast out antiphase versions of those noises at head height. Toyota claims it can cut noise by around 5 to 8dB.

[Via TRFJ]