If our sources at Green Hybrid are correct, this is a teaser for the upcoming 2010 Toyota Prius. No, really. Of course, we'd be surprised if anybody actually felt any sensation of anticipation from this photo. Who knew Toyota could release an even worse teaser than the first one? Although this shot does finally confirm speculation at least one part of the vehicle is capable of being opened and closed. Fascinating. We're going to take a nap now.

[via GreenHybrid]

(Photos by Lode Vermeiren)

While all of tech was focused this week on Oracle OpenWorld, some of us had to take the lovely trip down to San Jose to attend the Enterprise Search Summit and Streaming Media conferences. At Enterprise Search, the exhibit hall was filled with search vendors (Autonomy, FAST, now Microsoft, Dieselpoint, Attivio, Endeca, etc.) hawking the latest in indexing, search and retrieval solutions for the enterprise. Google was front and center with a big, shiny booth. However, by mid-morning on Thursday as the hall is jamming with folks getting their last demos and free tchotchkes, the Googlers were nowhere to be seen! Too much ruckus partying the night before? (I think not) Too busy installing Google Search Appliance hardware which is lacking in security, features, or support? Or did the Googlers realize that no one at the show was really interested in buying their product — which is good only if you just care about making sure the right lunch menu shows up on the company's intranet — and decided to go home???

I thought it was interesting that the biggest name in Search (well, at least Web search) called it quits so early on in the day. I mean this booth was like a freaking ghost town... where's the tumbleweed?

Although you’d think they’d disguise the top-secret powerplant a bit better, the brand's got a history of thumbing its nose at the car paparazzi. Then there’s the complete and utter lack of any exhaust pipes. Oh, and the plug-shaped patch on the grille. Not much else is known, but, according to the magazine, a BMW insider did hint strongly that the use of the front-drive Mini over a RWD BMW is somehow significant. [via Car Magazine]

More spy photos? Send them in.

[Transformers Live]

NextAutos whispers that the next-gen 2010 Toyota Prius could be part of

"a whole family of Prius models. That means that we also will see a station wagon and maybe even a convertible with the Prius badge."

We just caught Honda's hybrid-only model that's designed to take on the Toyota Prius. The shape and packaging of this prototype is clearly Prius-inspired, although the overall size looks larger than Toyota's hybrid favorite. The test group consisted of a Toyota Prius, Honda's facelifted Civic Hybrid, and this prototype, which is sure to be considered the top of Honda's hybrid vehicle range.

So, what do we think? Well, it looks a bit like a bulked-up Prius. Maybe the Honda's doing push-ups out there in the desert. However it's gotten that big, we're assuming because of the uncanny resemblance, it'll help sales.

Worst thing is, we don't even have a name for it, so feel free to tell us what you think they should call it in the comments below.

We caught Honda testing a prototype for a facelifted Civic Hybrid in the California desert. The revamped Civic gets a new front bumper, with a three-intake design in place of the current model's single central intake. A redesigned, more angular grille-opening surrounds the Civic's familiar chrome bar containing the Honda "H." It also appears that the headlights' internals have been ever so slightly restyled. Although the changes to the Civic Hybrid's nose are quite subtle, the overall effect is significantly more sporty than today's model, which looks a bit soft by comparison.

This Civic's rear will also see some very minor changes to the tail-lights, and a new trim piece protrudes between the rear lamps. The rest of the Hybrid's rear-end appears unchanged.

Is it the 2010 Toyota Prius? Maybe. All we know is it looks to be either a test vehicle for the next-gen Prius or the worst application of after-market Prius accessories we've ever seen. Unfortunately we're not expecting solar panels until the 2011 Prius, so that doesn't help us. Nor do we see any Chinese-made "Made In The USA" stickers — of course that won't be slapped on the side either until 2011, so there's really nothing we can see to distinguish this Prius from the 2009 Toyota Prius in front of it. Well, except for the heavy white tape and plastic. Although we shouldn't complain about this Prius' looks. At least it's not killing anyone. (Hat tip to Cord!) [Mr. Ben @ Flickr]

Yes friends, we were the first to tell you that the Chevy Volt would be wending its way around town underneath the skin of old, dead Malibus back in September. Now we're the first to show you a picture of a Chevy Volt wending its way around town underneath the skin of an old, dead Malibu. Also, we were like, the second to bring you that Volt video a few weeks ago. So we've got that going for us too. Oh, and then there was that production shot of the Volt we saw at the end of last year. One more feather for the drips-and-dribbles from the General hat. Full spy report from the pride of Brenda Priddy's pride of spy photographers, Chris Doane, below.

The Chevy Volt (test mule)

Today we have the first rock solid evidence that the Chevy Volt has begun development. Hiding under a previous generation Malibu body, we saw GM starting to run the E-Flex powertrain through it paces on the track.

The General will hope to have the Volt on sale in late 2010 as a 2011MY car. However that timing will depend on how well the Lithium Ion batteries development progresses. A task given to Continental Automotive Systems and A123 Systems. It could very well be a 2012MY car by the time Volt's start rolling down the production line.

One thing we do know for sure if that the Volt will be riding on the next gen Delta chassis. This next gen chassis is also know as GM's "Global Compact Car Architecture." According UAW documents, GM seems set to build the Volt at their Hamtramck plant once the G-body Buick Lucerne and Cadillac DTS cease production.
Price wise, GM was hoping for an MSRP of around $30,000. It now seems that number may be closer to $35,000.

Photo Credit: Chris Doane for Brenda Priddy & Co.

That rendered image on the back wall, on the left side is very interesting don't you think?

Not saying nothing, but that may ring a bell from yesterday's event. Yeah, now that we take a look at that, it looks pretty darn familiar.

Seriously guy, stop digging stuff up, we're getting hungry here. This one looks like that one time when Bob Boniface lifted the sheets to reveal the restyled nose of the Chevy Volt except it's turned 90 degrees relative to the railing in the back from when we saw it! Draw your own conclusions from that.

[sources: WWJ, ChevyVoltForums.com, Autoblog]

The freshened Prius will get a new front fascia, including a new grille design which appears to take after the corporate grille design seen on the Camry and the Yaris. The prototype's headlights have also been radically reshaped, ditching the current car's elongated lights.The old lights nearly reached back to the Prius' A-pillars, but the new lights are smaller, angular clusters set wide on the front-end. The result is a much more mainstream styling treatment. The bumper-mounted air-intake also looks to have been reshaped, but the heavy white tape obscures the true extent of the changes...The rest of the Prius appears to be unchanged on this prototype—a true facelift indeed, without any changes to the car's posterior.