Third-gen Prius to flirt with 100 mpg?
According to AutoExpress UK, Toyota is set to go for the green-veined jugular with its next Prius. The automaker's next hybrid will reportedly net a scarcely-believable 94 mpg (113mpg in imperial gallons). The figure comes about as the company has reportedly set a fuel economy bogey of 40km/liter, as it looks to distance itself from the fuel-sipping diesels that are so popular abroad.
Word is that the gains will largely come from replacing the current Prius' nickel-hydride batteries with lithium ion cells. AE further reports that Toyota hopes to have the charged-up hybrid on the road by as early as 2008. While pulling up the MPG, the manufacturer also hopes to improve the car's acceleration, and is expected to drop its 0-60 mph times by more than one second.
[Source: AutoExpress UK]
(Great tip, Jay!)
_opt_thumbnail.jpg)
_thumbnail.jpg "2011 Audi A8: Live from Miami")
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Richard Warren 7:40AM (4/11/2006)
If they can do it,great.
Now, if they could only make it look better
Reply
Tom Design 8:08AM (4/11/2006)
Now you're talking, baby! This is awesome!
Maybe Bush will bomb Japan once Toyota makes the demand go down. The Texas oil oligarchy still has to make 90 Billion a year in profits.
Reply
J 8:11AM (4/11/2006)
batteries? unless they are magic batteries that generate energy there is only so much to be gained from the batteries.
Reply
Jeff the Baptist 8:22AM (4/11/2006)
What are they powering it with, the driver's sense of self-satisfaction?
They should be able to drop the 0 to 62 time just by cutting weight with lighter batteries. The problem is how much is the new Prius going to cost? I wonder how much of the success of hybrids in the US has to do with the multi-thousand dollar income tax credit.
Reply
Carpenter 8:25AM (4/11/2006)
Looks like Toyota is Moving Forward while the big 2 are stuck in UAW hell.
On the way from the gas station this morning (found a station at $2.69 a gallon wheras most stations went to $2.75 overnight locally) I obtained only 93 MPG on the way to the office in my Prius II. I was a tad disappointed, as sometimes I can get 99.9 on the 2 mile trek from this station to my office. But it was cold this morning, like mid 40's.
Oh yeah. The very nice lady filling her SUV was putting in gas before I even pulled into the station, and stood there still watching her money go away as I drove off to work. Heh heh.
Reply
Carpenter 8:33AM (4/11/2006)
Jeff, it is coming down to more than just a choice of how much money do I put in - a bit more, in order to gain efficiency, or a lot more during every fill up. In the 1970's it was the diesel car delimma. Spend more to start with and save a lot on MPG? Or not?
It's coming down to whether there is going to be enough gasoline to go around. Soon. Sooner than you think.
Toyota are looking to reduce the price difference between so-called conventional cars and hybrids, not make the price difference greater. Don't say impossible because Toyota just cut the cost of their new Camry V6 in HALF with technical upgrades in the manufacturing process.
The battery pack in my hybrid weighs only about 130 pounds, if I recall correctly. Maybe Li-Ion will weigh less? The all alloy 1.5 liter engine probably weighs 65 pounds less than a 2 liter cast-iron diesel engine, for example. So the weight difference is less than you might think.
GM shot themselves in the foot yet again by selling off Subaru as Suburu's proper name is Fuji Heavy Industries and while 80% of FHI is Subaru cars, 20% is things such as Li-Ion battery development, which Toyota now has access to.
Reply
Carpenter 8:34AM (4/11/2006)
Jeff, it is coming down to more than just a choice of how much money do I put in - a bit more, in order to gain efficiency, or a lot more during every fill up. In the 1970's it was the diesel car delimma. Spend more to start with and save a lot on MPG? Or not?
It's coming down to whether there is going to be enough gasoline to go around. Soon. Sooner than you think.
Toyota are looking to reduce the price difference between so-called conventional cars and hybrids, not make the price difference greater. Don't say impossible because Toyota just cut the cost of their new Camry V6 in HALF with technical upgrades in the manufacturing process.
The battery pack in my hybrid weighs only about 130 pounds, if I recall correctly. Maybe Li-Ion will weigh less? The all alloy 1.5 liter engine probably weighs 65 pounds less than a 2 liter cast-iron diesel engine, for example. So the weight difference is less than you might think.
GM shot themselves in the foot yet again by selling off Subaru as Suburu's proper name is Fuji Heavy Industries and while 80% of FHI is Subaru cars, 20% is things such as Li-Ion batterey development, which Toyota now has access to.
Reply
Tom Design 8:44AM (4/11/2006)
The UAW is not controlling gasoline made cars. It is the Oil distribution network, and companies. The UAW is quite happy to build any car for a decent living. Your fellow workers in this country should be appreciated and defended. Your current politicians, with oil on their shoes, and lobby money in their wallets are to blame here.
As we write, the windmill farms off the shores of New England are being imposed with new governmental laws to make them fail.
Jeb Bush is not allowing drilling off his precious west coast of FLorida, and cancellng the U.S.' chance to dip into the reserves that Venezuela is pumping away for big bucks.
Meanwhile, legislation is being passed to strip mine areas of the national forests and wild west to squeeze 'surface' droplets of oil out of the soil, leaving swathes of ecological destruction.
And, still, the pristine ecosystem of ALaska, 1,000's of miles away is being chipped away at by the Bush boys in the oil business. Drain it dry.
The UAW is not the enemy here, and I hate hearing common laborers, who have no control over their jobs, be blamed for a fat cat problem. Anyone who believes that workers are the problem in this country does not understand the situation, and is being brainwashed by the rich in power.
Reply
brian 8:54AM (4/11/2006)
It must be true, because everyone knows that AutoExpress is the leader in accurate information.
Reply
Bowser 8:59AM (4/11/2006)
Carpenter,
Did you catch the South Park episode a couple of weeks ago? The storyline involved how Prius owners think they are better than everyone else & look down upon those who drive conventional vehicles. I thought it was a little far fetched, but your comment has proven otherwise.
Reply
Paul 9:06AM (4/11/2006)
What a piece of crap. I'll take a GT500 or Challenger, not this egg-shaped toy, thanks.
Reply
caffee 9:08AM (4/11/2006)
Tom Design,
Thank you for your comments. It is too easy for some to blame the American worker for trying to make a decent living. For those that do not know, if it were not for the unions in this country fighting for decent wages, you would be climbing fences to get into Mexico to pick their fruits and vegetables.
Wake up Americans we are on a race to the bottom. If you don't think they will cut your $10.00 dollar an hour job to $5.00 you are in for a rude awakening. Your goverment is not working for your best interest, their only concern is cheap labor, cheap goods, big corporate profits, smashing your constitutional rights and trampling on your dignity.
Today Japanese cars prices are lower in this country than Japan, think there might be a reason for this?
Reply
Jeff the Baptist 9:38AM (4/11/2006)
Wow Tom that was the most politically muddled bit of posting ever. The laws hampering New England wind farms are generally being put forward by liberals who own coastal property and don't want the damn things wrecking their view. I'm betting a lot of eco lefties are on Jeb Bush's side of things in Florida too.
Carpenter, I don't know the battery weights. I assumed they would be heavier. I have done the math on fuel economy vs. price and right now hybrids are really only economically competitive because of two things (1) the tax credit (2) people are comparing cars by cost instead of size and capability (for instance the common Prius/Camry comparisons). Fuel prices aren't high enough that the crossover mileage without the tax credit is close to a reasonable break even point for comparable vehicles.
Reply
Tom Design 9:58AM (4/11/2006)
Jeff the Baptist => you made nothing clear without a fact, and only muddled things to your bias. Actually, the wind farms are being hampered because the republican run congress is passing a bill to make extend the proximity to passing ship lanes. This is would also distance from the landowners view, but, is backed by the right leaning republican government, not the left leaning locals. I think if you polled the millionaires in this country, the vast majority would be republican conservatives, the rich liberals aren't very effective, um, look at what the democrats have achieved in the past 12 years. To make things clear for you, there is a legislative block against the windmills in our republican, right wing government.
The main opponent to the Gulf drilling off Florida is Jeb Bush. Florida is a red state in case you were muddled on that too. To clarify even further for you in case it's not clear every day you wake up: We will attack other countries over oil, we will ravage our last national wildlife areas to drill and strip mine, but our conservative right congress will not take small steps to develop fuel in our own yards. Clear now?
Reply
Raj 10:13AM (4/11/2006)
I am assuming most of the people here are Americans. It's very disappointing to hear words like "impossible" from them. If anything, USA is a land of innovation. This 100 MPG engine should've been invented by Americans.
Somebody commented on the looks of the prius. Guess what, this is how modern cars look like. Check new Honda Civic, Mazda 3 etc. They look like today's cars if not tommorrow's. May be you like old boring designs like Ford Focus (N.A version, Europe version of Focus is much better).
Reply
LJ 10:14AM (4/11/2006)
It's wonderful that they say they can improve the fuel economy but we know their numbers are unreal. My current 2005 Camry is rated at 34 MPG. The first 7,000 miles actual average is 23 MPG. So this would mean that we should expect(in the real world)64 MPG not 94 MPG. However 64 would be great if Toyota could deliver it.
Reply
Vinny 10:19AM (4/11/2006)
The unions served a purpose back in the early 1900's. They were needed then. Today they are organized crime, a drain on the economy. They have outlived their usefulness.
Reply
caffee 10:31AM (4/11/2006)
Vinny
That is total BS and you know it. In case you haven't noticed wages have been going down for 5 years while the cost of living keeps going up. Who do you propose will fight for todays workers, company CEO's? your congressman? your president?....When unions are gone companies will be free to run rough-shod over workers, and if the worker doesn't like it, well he can get the hell out. The only way workers will survive and make a decent wage in this country is to stick together and that mean unionization........otherwise it's universal Walmart.
Reply
Raj 10:32AM (4/11/2006)
90% of blame for poor products from GM and Ford goes to the leaders of these companies. They lost touch with American customers.
I wonder what they were doing when rest of the world was moving forward. American Auto companies used to provide some ideal business leaders, the current crop (and last few) is no steel. UAW never designed those products and UAW never marketed those poorly desgined products. Yes there are some things to blame on UAW. But business leaders (CEOs and rest of the executives) are 90% responsible for the troubles Big 2 are facing today. They did not see what was coming their way, they did not prepare for it. They get paid exorbitent amount of money for doing that which they didn't.
Top 10 problems of BIG 2 are Way overpaid CEOs, COOs, CIOs, VPs Directors who are not doing there job.
Undisciplined, spolied and lazy UAW is there distant 11th problem.
Reply
Ari 10:35AM (4/11/2006)
What does any of this have to do with a car that might get 100mpg?! Everytime there is a hybrid post, the trolls come out to play. Come on, people! Lets face it, a car that gets a 100mpg and can increase acceleration is a great feat, unions or no unions, wind farms or no wind farms, republicans or democrats.
The only thing I am curious about is the life of the battery and what the "real world" mpg might be. It would be great to get 100mpg (if this rumor is true) but lord knows I won't be driving around at 30mph to achieve it. Hell, even if it gets 75mpg, that would probably be worth the $3k-$5k price premium.
Reply