The new Toyota gas-electric Prius hybrid has increased power, acceleration, and driving range.
The new Toyota gas-electric Prius hybrid has increased power, acceleration, and driving range. It’s also more fashionable, ditching the fairly staid angular shape in favor of a sleekly futuristic appearance.
Simon Humphries, senior general manager of Global Toyota design, who revealed the car in Tokyo on Wednesday, emphasized that the firm is still confounding naysayers who question how long the Japanese manufacturer will continue with hybrids in a sector that is rapidly changing.
“Simply because the Prius is an affordable eco-car.” To reach carbon neutrality, everyone on the planet must contribute. We need ecological solutions that are affordable to the majority of people. And it must begin immediately, not tomorrow,” he told reporters.
The fifth-generation Prius hybrid cars will be available this winter, first in Japan and subsequently in the United States. According to Toyota Motor Corp., a plug-in hybrid version will be available next year. Prices were not disclosed.
An older nickel-metal-hydride battery was replaced with a smaller, lighter lithium-ion battery. The end result will be nearly double the horsepower, faster acceleration, and a 50% increase in range.
The Prius, which originally went on sale in 1997, alternates between a gasoline engine and an electric motor to provide cleaner driving than cars with traditional combustion engines.
Electric vehicles emit no pollution but must be recharged. Some customers are concerned about running out of gas on the highway. A hybrid always has a backup gas engine.
Toyota has sold more than 20.3 million hybrid vehicles, including Prius cars, worldwide to date. The Prius, which means “pioneer” or “first” in Latin, has defined Toyota as a brand in the same way that Lexus luxury automobiles have.
Nonetheless, environmentalists have criticized Toyota for dragging its steps on electrification, though some analysts argue that this is unjust given that other automakers have few electric cars in their lineups, and many others have created numerous hybrid versions.
“The selling of more hybrid vehicles, especially the Prius, pushes us farther into the climate disaster,” said Greenpeace East Asia’s Daniel Read, who is based in Tokyo.
Electric vehicles and fuel-cell models, according to Read, are better climate-change solutions than hybrids.
According to Humphries, the new Prius was designed to be more stable, with a lower center of gravity, larger tires, curving lines for its overall appearance, and a luxurious interior.
He described it as an expression of love rather than a commodity. Making hybrid cabs or providing them to other manufacturers may potentially be ways to disseminate the technology, he noted, but Toyota decided against both.
“We truly believed that the next step for Prius was to become a ‘vehicle without sacrifices’ in order to boost its customer appeal,” Humphries said, standing in front of a screen plastered with the words “We chose love.”
The Prius will compete better not only with other hybrid models but also with the current generation of completely electric vehicles, according to Stephanie Brinley, the lead automotive analyst at S&P Global Mobility.
The Prius models have always served as a kind of bridge to a day when there are more charging stations for EVs, according to Brinley, who feels the new Prius outperforms hybrids and plug-in hybrids from Hyundai, Kia, Ford, and Jeep.
By increasing the battery range by 50%, which corresponds to about 38 miles (61 kilometers), it can cover the average U.S. driver’s commute and errands around town. Brinley explained that the hybrid powertrain enables for road trips without worrying about a charging network that isn’t yet complete.
“That will definitely lead to more confidence driving,” she remarked.
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