Gojirra99

Not sure if this has been posted before, a search found nothing :

Tuesday 4th April 2006


Toyota is charging ahead in the race for domination of the hybrid car market, according to Auto Express spies.

The firm's next Prius will be so efficient it will be the first production car capable of returning more than 110mpg. The newcomer is being developed to try to improve European sales. While the car has been a success in the US, it has met a mixed reaction on this side of the Atlantic, due to the popularity of diesel models.

But now we've been told that engineers working on the new Prius have a fuel economy target of 40km/litre - a mind-boggling 113mpg.

"The whole electrical system has been redesigned to improve economy" said one Toyota engineer. "We are working on a prototype that runs solely on the electric motor in slow traffic, but switches to engine and motor drive when higher speeds are needed." The secret lies with the batteries. The current Prius uses nickel-hydride items, which currently offer the best balance between cost and performance.

But engineers are working on new lithiumion cells, which are lighter, smaller, generate more power and last longer. Subaru and Mitsubishi both plan to sell electric cars by 2010, but Toyota hopes to get its new model on the road as early as 2008.

And improved economy isn't the firm's only goal, as engineers are working on reducing the current car's 10.9-second 0-62mph time by more than a second.
Peter Lyon


source : autoexpress.co.uk

Vegassc400

That's pretty incredible. If they keep the 12 gallon fuel tank that means most people will be able to go more than a month before filling up again.

Trexus

Go Toyota. This goes to show how far Toyota is ahead from the competition regarding hybrids. BMW, DaimlerChrysler, GM and other car manufacturers don't have anything on Toyota when it comes to hybrids. Once Toyota fully establishes gasoline/electric hybrids they will go into fuel cell/electric hybrids. There is no stopping Toyota now.

mmarshall

113 MPG? Not bad. The best MPG figure I have seen to date for a production hybrid was a CAR and DRIVER test for a 2001 Honda Insight...a much smaller, lighter, less powerful car than the new Prius. C&D got a max 92 MPG with their Insight...right here in Washington, DC on I-295, I might add.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

that's incredible. the current prius is what, like 60mpg? awesome man, this is almost doubling the current one!

GFerg

WOW....thats really good.

I guess this story coincides with this statement as well...

mmarshall

Yes...if real world mileage figures can come anywhere close to this the OPEC oil ministers are going to be burning some ( what else? ) midnight oil.

However, lets also wait and see what future diesels do...present diesels already pretty much equal present hybrid MPG figures with a lot less mechanical and electrical complexity, albeit it with more pollution.

spwolf

nope, they dont... European best diesels still get 20% worse mpg than Prius. Only cars size of 3 door Yaris gets almost like Prius mileage (not quite), but usually with 70-80hp engines.

However, in Europe, focus has been on performance rather than economics. People seem to be happy enough about 40-45mpg.

mmarshall

Here in the U.S. of course, the primary comparison between hybrids and diesel automobiles ( not trucks ) is with the VW line of diesels. ( Mercedes markets one or two diesel models and Jeep produces a diesel Liberty but their sales are inconsequential ). If you look at what mileage owners actually GET in daily service, there is little difference between the Prius / Civic class of hybrids and the VW line of Golf / Beetle / Jetta / Passat diesels. Both average around 40-45 MPG in routine daily driving. ( The Passat diesel slightly less becsuse of its larger size and weight ) The hybrids get better figures in the city; the diesels on the highway. However, I admit the diesels currently pollute a lot more, but that may be changing as well as soon as the low-sulfur diesel fuel is available here....it is supposed to be here by November of this year unless the EPA grants an extension.
And......no, I have not yet heard of any production diesel car getting 113 MPG, though the European-only VW Lupo with the little 1.2L diesel supposedly, under ideal driving conditions, can get around 80.

jrock65

I'm not a big fan of the Prius. Too small and weak.

However, I am very interested in this lithiumium battery technology making its way into cars like the Camry hybrid, RX400h and GS450h.

Can you imagine a Camry getting 70 mpg?

Now, if they can somehow work out the issue of the battery eating into the trunk space, that would be great.

jracerlmn

but you'll end up driving like a grandma...where's the fun in that?

mikal

Speaking of the prius, I saw a girl at ikea trying to stuff a couch through the hatch of her prius. The ikea employee helping her was getting pissed off and saying it doesnt fit.
Waht surprised me was that they managed to get the couch a little more than half way in though.

Should of snapped a pix.

MGS4

Toyota...holding it down on the engineering tip,

mmarshall

The fun is in saving gas money....and avoiding tickets and maybe accidents.

XeroK00L

While 113mpg may sound great, if swapping Ni-H batteries with Li-ion ones is how they manage to do it, the new Prius will not only be nothing new but also make the car almost prohibitively too expensive for its target market.

It certainly will appeal to those people who can "afford" to be green though.