Masalah Pedal Akselarasi Mobil Toyota, Recall 2,3 Juta

Lembaga Keamanan Jalan Bebas Hambatan (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) menyatakan ada tambahan keluhan dari tahun 2005 hingga 2010, korban terus bertambah. Kejadian fatal yang diduga ditimbulkan oleh masalah akselerasi mobil toyota mencapai 34 kasus.

Regulator mengatakan di Washington bahwa jika keluhan konsumen meningkat setelah ada penarikan mobil besar-besaran ke bengkel untuk diperbaiki merupakan hal yang biasa. Toyota telah menarik kembali (recall) mobil produksinya dalam beberapa bulan terakhir.

Toyota menyatakan bahwa semua laporan dari konsumen akan diperhatikan dan mengambil langkah untuk meningkatkan kontrol kualitas, menyelidiki keluhan konsumen dengan lebih agresif lagi.
Regulator transportasi Amerika serikat menekankan bahwa keluhan itu terkait dengan tuduhan yang belum dikonfirmasi dan dapat menjadi kasus yang tidak spesifik, masalah pedal gas menyebabkan kematian 34 orang ditahun 2000, demikian pernyataan National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Sementara Toyota Motor Co menyatakan telah memperbaiki 500.000 ribu dari 2.3 juta yang di recall masuk ke bengkel karena masalah pedal gas sedangkan Toyota Motor di Orlando telah melakukan proses perbaikan dan mulai lagi menjual mobil Toyota yang menumpuk. Pejabat Toyota Motor Co mengatakan akan mempertimbangkan perpanjangan masa garansi terhadap mobil produksinya untuk mendapatkan kepercayaan dari konsumen.

Bob Carter, General Manager pada Divisi Toyota di United States mengatakan bahwa perusahaan akan terus memerhatikan konsumen. Sepanjang akhir pekan lalu Toyota berupaya untuk terus menyelediki masalah pedal gas yang mungkin macet. Kajian yang dilakukan Toyota menyatakan bahwa tidak ada bukti masalah pada elektronik pada produk Toyota dan Lexus.

Pada acara pertemuan tahunan National Automobil Dealer Association, Bob Carter mengatakan Toyota tidak akan kehilangan pangsa pasarnya walaupun belakangan ini citranya tercoreng dan optimis konsumen Toyota tetap loyal dan citra Toyota akan kembali pulih.

Dari Tokyo dilaporkan, bahwa Presiden Toyota Motor Corp Akio Toyoda akan menjawab pertanyaan mengenai penarikan global dan besar-besaran produk Toyota tersebut. Akio juga akan hadir berhadapan dengan anggota Kongres AS akhir bulan ini.
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TOYOTA : Solar Charging Stations

It seemed like it would only be a matter of time before Toyota would jump into the market of using renewable energy to charge a car and they have done so in a big way. The solar charging station by Toyota will be put on display at the Tokyo Motor Show 2009. While there are other charging stations on the market for electric cars, the fact that this one is solar powered has the industry abuzz in anticipation.

The solar charging station by Toyota almost looks like something that you would have seen in one of the old sci-fi movies, but this is the real deal. It works by collecting the suns energy through solar panels and then stores the energy in a battery that is later used to charge and power the vehicle. This is just another great innovation that is pushing our world to a ‘greener’ lifestyle and will use renewable energy in yet another every day application.

While there is not yet a price tag that has been placed on the device, it should be available on the general market for purchase sometime in 2010. Current estimates have it coming out in the range of “several hundred thousand yen” (a few thousand in USD). With the money that one would save on their electric bill, you would have to think that this will be worth every penny once it finally does hit the open market.

In addition to the solar charging station by Toyota has also introduced a battery charger that can be mounted directly into the vehicle. It will just about double the current voltage to charge the secondary battery of hybrid vehicles. This is another money saver that electric car owners will probably flock to once it is available to them.

A solar panel charger for an automobile is a huge breakthrough in that hybrid and electric cars are becoming more and more popular because of the falling economy and rising gas prices. If someone can use solar charging and recover the cost of their investment in just a few months, it makes even more sense to buy one of these energy efficient cars. In less than a year, you can literally be charging your car and driving down the highway at absolutely no cost to you. The world is well on its way to becoming ‘greener’ and innovative uses of solar panel chargers will lead the way.

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