Monday, July 02, 2007 11:57:25 PM
2008-09 Toyota Prius
93 mpg...
http://www.hybridcars.com/concept-hybrids/toyota-hybrid-x.html
The Toyota Prius rose from almost complete obscurity in 2003 to become a mega-superstar in the automotive world. In May 2007, Prius sales reached platinum-record levels—more than 24,000 units in a single month, making it the sixth most popular of all passenger vehicles sold in the United States.
Breathless—yet unsubstantiated—claims about the next Prius began circulating in early 2006. The UK’s Auto Express credited a Toyota engineer as saying that the next Prius would achieve 94 miles per gallon, use lithium ion batteries, and be on the road as early as 2008. The auto and eco-minded bloggers went crazy with excitement, speculating further about the potential for the next Prius to break the 100-mpg mark with plug-in capabilities.
Fantasies about the next Prius took visible shape when Toyota showed off its “Hybrid X” design concept at the Geneva Motor Show in March. It was sleek, groovy and futuristic.
Then, the high hopes of hybrid fans crashed back to earth in May when the Wall Street Journal and a Japanese industrial daily, Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun, reported that the third-generation Prius would not switch from nickel metal hydride to lithium ion batteries and that Toyota would not release the vehicle until spring 2009. According to the newspapers, Toyota had decided to take its time to ensure quality and safety—logical, yet not so dreamy.
Toyota’s reluctance to use lithium batteries in the next Prius may reveal more about the company’s corporate strategy than the state of lithium chemistry or plug-in technology. Why is Toyota holding back on the advanced battery technology for the next Prius?
We can find clues in recent comments from Jim Press, president of Toyota Motor North America. “The approach the company takes is a more conservative decision-making process that tries to avoid wrong decisions and therefore it takes longer to make decisions,” said Press in an April interview in Edmunds’ Auto Observer. “We have a saying that before a Toyota person crosses a bridge, we check every rock.” As alluring as it may be to push the Prius over the 100-mpg mark with lithium batteries and plug-in capabilities, Toyota can afford to be patient, avoid risk, and allow the production levels of its current crop of hybrids to reach economies of scale.
Where does that leave the next Prius when it comes out in 2009? Bill Reinert, national manager of the advanced technologies group at Toyota, predicted a continuation of the previous 30 percent jump in fuel economy from the previous Prius generation. Based on that calculus, the next Prius could boost real-world combined fuel efficiency from the current high-40s to the low 60s—still rock star status among motor vehicles today.
Read more:
http://www.hybridcars.com/compacts-sedans/high-hopes-next-prius.html
93 mpg...
http://www.hybridcars.com/concept-hybrids/toyota-hybrid-x.html
The Toyota Prius rose from almost complete obscurity in 2003 to become a mega-superstar in the automotive world. In May 2007, Prius sales reached platinum-record levels—more than 24,000 units in a single month, making it the sixth most popular of all passenger vehicles sold in the United States.
Breathless—yet unsubstantiated—claims about the next Prius began circulating in early 2006. The UK’s Auto Express credited a Toyota engineer as saying that the next Prius would achieve 94 miles per gallon, use lithium ion batteries, and be on the road as early as 2008. The auto and eco-minded bloggers went crazy with excitement, speculating further about the potential for the next Prius to break the 100-mpg mark with plug-in capabilities.
Fantasies about the next Prius took visible shape when Toyota showed off its “Hybrid X” design concept at the Geneva Motor Show in March. It was sleek, groovy and futuristic.
Then, the high hopes of hybrid fans crashed back to earth in May when the Wall Street Journal and a Japanese industrial daily, Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun, reported that the third-generation Prius would not switch from nickel metal hydride to lithium ion batteries and that Toyota would not release the vehicle until spring 2009. According to the newspapers, Toyota had decided to take its time to ensure quality and safety—logical, yet not so dreamy.
Toyota’s reluctance to use lithium batteries in the next Prius may reveal more about the company’s corporate strategy than the state of lithium chemistry or plug-in technology. Why is Toyota holding back on the advanced battery technology for the next Prius?
We can find clues in recent comments from Jim Press, president of Toyota Motor North America. “The approach the company takes is a more conservative decision-making process that tries to avoid wrong decisions and therefore it takes longer to make decisions,” said Press in an April interview in Edmunds’ Auto Observer. “We have a saying that before a Toyota person crosses a bridge, we check every rock.” As alluring as it may be to push the Prius over the 100-mpg mark with lithium batteries and plug-in capabilities, Toyota can afford to be patient, avoid risk, and allow the production levels of its current crop of hybrids to reach economies of scale.
Where does that leave the next Prius when it comes out in 2009? Bill Reinert, national manager of the advanced technologies group at Toyota, predicted a continuation of the previous 30 percent jump in fuel economy from the previous Prius generation. Based on that calculus, the next Prius could boost real-world combined fuel efficiency from the current high-40s to the low 60s—still rock star status among motor vehicles today.
Read more:
http://www.hybridcars.com/compacts-sedans/high-hopes-next-prius.html
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