Toyota has two important vehicles coming in 2015: the next-generation Prius hybrid and the company’s first hydrogen fuel cell car.
Satoshi Ogiso, a top Toyota engineer who helped develop the original Prius 20 years ago, said Wednesday that the new Prius will get significantly better fuel economy than its current 50 miles per gallon (4.7 litres per 100 kilometres). It will have an advanced battery, motor and gas engine combination that is smaller, lighter and cheaper than the current version.
Ogiso wouldn’t reveal the fuel economy, but he’s hoping to at least match the 10-per cent gains Toyota has gotten in the last three generations of Priuses. A 10 per cent gain would get the Prius to 55 mpg (4.2 litres per 100 kms) in combined city and highway driving.
“The challenge to continue to improve at this rate, to beat your own record, becomes very difficult but makes it all the more motivating,” Ogiso told media at an event near Detroit. “I can tell you that we are very motivated to beat our record.”
The new Prius will ride on a new, lower chassis to improve its handling and aerodynamics. It will also have a nicer interior. Ogiso wouldn’t say how much it might cost, but a less expensive hybrid system could help bring down the Prius’s US$24,000 price tag.
Toyota hopes the revamped Prius will help it reach its goal of selling 5 million hybrids in the US by 2016. As of July, the company had sold more than 2 million Toyota and Lexus hybrids, including 1.4 million Prius compact cars, Prius C subcompacts and Prius V wagons.