Toyota & Green Home Building

Sound like a crazy combination? No, not really. Toyota has been in the modular home business for over 20 years now! The little known Toyota Homes unit accounts for only 0.5% of the company’s $262 billion in annual sales, and Toyota would like to beef that up a little bit with the planned roll out of the plug in hybrid cars due to launch in 2010. They are currently looking to apply their eco-friendly image and technical know-how to help boost sales of its small and little-known prefabricated-housing division.

The plug-in vehicles, gas-electric hybrid cars with powerful lithium-ion batteries will need to recharge at home, so the car maker is testing an electricity-monitoring system in its homes that would charge the vehicle during off-peak hours to keep utility bills low. The car’s battery can serve as an electrical backup, powering the home during blackouts. The conservative Smart home starts at about $200K with luxury custom built models for around $800K - all of which come with a 60 year warranty, built in 45 days. Amazing!

via: freshome