The yellow "Access OK" Clean Air Vehicle sticker your hybrid car has been sporting since 2005 is set to expire on July 1st, meaning you and 85,000 other Prius owners will no longer have breezy free rides through the carpool lane. (Yes, we're assuming everyone in the audience drives a Prius.) After June of this year, hybrid drivers caught flying solo in the diamond lane will get ticketed just like every other clunker on the road. more ›

In a continuing effort to reduce the city's carbon emissions -- while boosting the smugness of Prius owners, of course -- Mayor Ed Lee's office will announce the availability of free power for electric for cars in San Francisco and SFO. The no-cost charges will last until the end of 2013. Who's paying for this, you ask? Well, according to the Examiner: "The $300,000 bill for the new program is being footed by a combination of federal, state and local grants, including one from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District." Electric-car charging station locations will be as follows: more ›

Apparently not content to test a computer's ability to drive one of those autonomous Priuses, a Google engineer was spotted testing California's hands-free cell phone law by chatting from the driver's seat (but you know, not actually driving) while cruising around near Google HQ in Mountain View. Is it still hand-free if you have to hold the phone, but not the steering wheel? [Jalopnik] more ›

Sad news. A 70-year-old woman was stuck and killed by a Priu in the Haight on Wednesday. According to BCN (via SF Appeal), the "woman had been crossing the street at Waller and Cole streets at about 8 a.m. when she was struck by a black Toyota Prius." more ›

In front of City Hall at a "green vehicle showcase," Mayor Gavin Newsom yesterday announced a partnership between San Francisco and Toyota to advertise their Prius plug-in hybrids. And, as with anything carrying the Green brand, Newsom gets exceptionally excited. And when Newsom gets exceptionally excited, his hands turn into politically-charged fists of fury. More so than usual. Look at him go! He looks like a older Eva Peron. more ›

Priuses race on Telegraph Avenue. more ›

Due to a brake design problem, Toyota plans on recalling their popular Prius, a hybrid car popular with many smug yet eco-friendly Bay Area ilk. According to MarketWatch, around 270,000 vehicles will be recalled. "The Japanese automaker is expected to file with the the U.S. Department of Transportation for a recall to change the control program for the hybrid's anti-lock brake system." more ›

Why can't we all just get along? more ›

Toyota Prius drivers--eco-friendly drivers who try their damnedest not to leave their carbon footprint on Mother Earth--have become "a prime target for vandals" in Petaluma. And, according to CBS 5, no one has been able to figure out why. more ›

So sad. more ›