Sipping Less Gas, More Espresso
Stereotype alert: not only does Future Boy drive a Prius, he also unapologetically sips lattes while doing so. (What, you don’t like fuel economy and frothy milk?)
Since his is a first edition, 2002 model, FB is able to feel smugly superior to Johnny-come-latelys. This weekend, as San Francisco gas prices climbed above the $4-a-gallon psychological barrier (almost as much as a Venti latte!), a curious coincidence happened: four of FB’s neighbors suddenly swapped their SUVs for second-edition Priuses (Priusi? Prii?), all of them as blue as this blue state. It turned out to be the result of a long wait list, a recent shipment to the local Toyota, and a lack of neighborly color coordination. Still, it was timely proof that the Prius’ popularity shows no signs of dipping.
Today Toyota announced that the mark 3 Prius would be unveiled at next year’s Detroit auto show. Early reports suggest that it will improve its fuel economy by 10 mpg, from 45 to 55, despite having more horsepower and length. Not bad, but not as great as the 94 mpg Toyota says it’s aiming for.
That should mean no drop in business for the small PHEV companies — those plucky bright sparks who will gussy up your hybrid by adding a larger battery and plug-in capability, despite a lack of cooperation from Toyota. Kits from little guys like Hymotion and eDrive purportedly take your mpg into the 70-90 range. In other words: lots more free lattes.
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"Future Boy" is the nom de plume of Chris Taylor, award-winning journalist and futurist. Currently the West Coast Editor of Fortune Small Business, he previously served as San Francisco bureau chief of Time magazine, where he wrote the magazine's first stories on tech trends such as Google and the iPod. In 2005 he became "Future Editor" of Business 2.0, where he edited the "What's Next" section, and where the Future Boy column and blog were born. Chris was born in Liverpool, England and was educated at Oxford and Columbia Universities.
