Toyota adjusting future Prius plans
Japanese car-maker Toyota has adjusted its plans in regards to expanding its hybrid and hydrogen vehicle line-up and revealed details of its next-generation Prius.
Managing officer of the Toyota Motor Corporation – TMC – Satoshi Ogiso announced the new plan which wants to see 15 new or redesigned hybrid vehicles introduced around the world between now and the end of 2015.
This is actually a reduction of the initial plan announced back in April when they were marking the sale of their five-millionth hybrid vehicle. Back then Toyota had committed to introducing a whopping 18 new hybrid models in that time span.
The new plan will still include the company’s first commercially available hydrogen fuel cell vehicle – a new mid-size four-door sedan that will be based around the Toyota FCV-R concept and which is actually due to be unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show in November – and obviously the plan will include the next-generation Toyota Prius.
The Japanese manufacturer hinted about the role of hydrogen fuel cell technology in their future vehicles saying that the technology will be employing core hybrid tech which will become the primary element in the company’s future mobility strategy.
Toyota will be launching the fourth-generation Prius to be the first of a broader range of both Toyota and Lexus vehicles that will introduce considerably improved hybrid powertrains.
The promises coming from Toyota sound really good, like a bit too good to be true because they’re promising important improvements to fuel economy as well as thermal efficiency and it will be a lighter and more compact package at a lower cost.
The managing officer also revealed that the new generation Prius vehicles will come with smaller, more powerful electric motors. He mentioned that the current generation Prius motors have about four times the power density of the first-generation model that debuted in Japan back in 1997, and he mentioned that the next one will be even higher.
