myHybrid unleashed

MyHybrid LLC today unveiled their social network for hybrid enthusiasts. The concept is pretty interesting. By forging partnerships with Toyota, myHybrid will be embedding their technology in all 2008/2009 Toyota Hybrid models, allowing the car to upload statistics periodically to the myHybrid network to compare with a broader community of hybrid drivers.

The first feature that is already gaining a lot of momentum is the myHybrid Leaderboard. The Spokane, Washington based company MyHybrid captures the statistics of thousands of commutes each day by hybrid owners, and posts the most efficient to the myHybrid Leaderboard. Drivers can view the leaderboard from their dashboard, and set goals for their commute. Additionally, myHybrid delivers low impact suggestions to the driver on how to make their drive more efficient. To make it even more interesting, drivers can access the network online to create/join groups, as well as narrow their focus to only drivers in their city, or those that share some of their commuting route. The next step for myHybrid is a real-time leaderboard showing cars that are actively commuting around you along with their stats.

Of particular interest is that new Toyota owners will be invited to join the myHybrid community and create their profile from the dashboard of their car when they turn on their navigation system for the first time! The founders of the company believe that this sort of interaction between user and car will spawn an entirely new set of web services centered around the commuter.