Toyota to Debut 2012 Prius Plug-in Hybrid with up to 107MPG at the Frankfurt Motor Show

The final production version of Toyota's long anticipated Prius Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle –or PHEV for short- will make its first public appearance at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show on the 15th of September.

The Japanese automaker has been field-testing the Prius PHEV for quite some time now, but starting from next Spring, it will go on sale in Europe as well as other markets including select dealerships in the U.S. with a nationwide launch to follow in 2013.

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Google Says Self-Driving Prius Crash was Caused by a Human and that it Wasn't the First [with New Video]

Last week, one of Google's Toyota Prius models equipped with the internet search giant's self-driving technology made headlines after it was involved in an accident near the company's Mountain View, California, Headquarters.

While we did report Google's side of the story that said a human was behind the steering wheel at the time of the crash, like many other sites, we also stated that it was the first recorded accident involving a self-driving Google car.

Turns out we were wrong about the crash being the first of its kind as Google spokesperson Jay Narrow contacted Carscoop and told us that last year, one of the firm's cars "was once rear-ended while stopped at a traffic light".

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[Updated] Google's Self-Driving Car Involved in California Accident

Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated in the title that this was the first accident involving a Google self-driving car. The corrected version reflects a change only in the title of this article. We also posted an updated story on the incident that includes a new video and an official statement from a Google spokesperson. You can check it out by clicking this link.

Many companies are developing self-driving cars. The latest example is VW’s TAP (Temporary Auto Pilot) that was recently demonstrated on video.

Another earlier model is Google’s automated/driverless fleet of Toyota Prius hybrids developed with the help of the military’s DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Project Agency) 2007 Urban Challenge winner, Chris Urmson and Anthony Levandowski, the maker of the world’s first autonomous motorcycle (again, for DARPA) – oh, and an self-driving pizza-delivery vehicle.

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Evatran Presents Wireless Charging Station for Electric Vehicles

Plug-in hybrids seem to be all the rage these days, from Chevrolet’s Volt to Nissan’s Leaf and the soon to be launched in the U.S. market, Toyota Prius Plug-In. And there are many more vehicles capable of running on electric power to follow.

However, their owners must not forget to charge them, usually overnight, or they’ll wake up next morning and discover they’ve run out of electric juice. In addition, they need to know their way around with the charging cords –not an easy task as any computer geek knows very well.

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Ad Watch: Not All Toyota Prius Drivers Are Goody Two Shoes, So Sayeth Steve Nash

NBA basketball player and point guard for the Phoenix Suns Steve Nash doesn’t take himself very seriously. He has starred in a handful of TV ads - including a few for Vitamin Water - where he generally takes the piss out of himself and the typical over-the-top sporting personalities we see so very often.

Now he’s staring in a couple of TV commercials for the third generation Toyota Prius where he proves that you don’t have to be a planet-conscious all-around-good-guy to drive the Japanese brand’s popular hybrid hatch.

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