Follow-up: Toyota may not produce hybrid Yaris after all
2009 Toyota Yaris - Click above for a high-res image gallery
A Toyota insider is countering yesterday's report that the automaker is planning a Yaris-based hybrid to be built in France. Such a vehicle would be unnecessary, according to the unnamed source.
Today's Toyota Yaris is already a fuel miser. The European variant is currently quipped with a 1.33-liter dual VVT-i engine with start-stop technology allowing the compact runabout to earn an impressive 55.4 mpg (European) combined fuel economy (in the States, we get a 1.5-liter Yaris that is rated at 29/36 in EPA testing). While dropping a hybrid powerplant into a larger vehicle pays back significantly, the gains realized by building a hybrid Yaris would be negligible.
Down the road, it may be a different story as battery technology (one limiting factor) is improving quickly. The advent of lithium ion batteries will boost the case for compact and subcompact hybrid vehicles as the bantam-weight cars benefit from the lighter and more compact power sources.
Gallery: 2009 Toyota Yaris
[Source: Autocar]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
gslippy 6:09PM (7/29/2009)
Even Toyota - the maker of the Prius - understands what payback means. "Green" without ROI isn't very consumer-friendly.
Incidentally, this is why I don't own a Prius - poor payback vs. comparable cars.
And this is why the Chevy Volt shouldn't be produced.
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tankd0g 12:27AM (7/30/2009)
Toyota makes the hybrid Highlander, workout the ROI on that sometime. There isn't one.
why not the LS2LS7? 6:15PM (7/29/2009)
The payback on the hybrid Yaris would be percentage-wise just fine. The only real problem is to make sure you can make the hybrid system cheap enough to make up for the fact that you would only save $500 a year in gas (even at European gas prices).
Battery capacity needed for a hybrid is proportional to vehicle weight, so that means even within a technology (like NiMH), battery weight is proportional to vehicle weight. So I don't see why the Yaris needs Lion more than a Prius does.
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Bloke 8:59AM (7/30/2009)
You're better off with the Yaris in D4-D guise with the 6-speed gearbox. At £12K it's far cheaper than a hybrid model would weight in at, also gets 55mpg (imperial) around town and 79mpg (imperial) at highway speeds, and emits only 109g/km of CO2 so annual road tax is cheap too at only £35, whereas a hybrid would likely be free of VED cost. In short, the hybrid would unlikely be very cost-effective over either the diesel or base 1 litre petrol models.
why not the LS2LS7? 1:31PM (7/30/2009)
If you assume the hybrid will be expensive then you're right. Like I said, the key is making the hybrid mechanism cheap enough. Do this correctly and you'll clean up in town on running costs and break even on the highway.
Bloke 2:09PM (7/30/2009)
Hybrids are generally more expensive, and with the sheer prevalence of good diesel technology in Europe, the market for hybrids has remained relatively small and viewed with skepticism by the motor trade here.
Toyota knows this, and given that it's unlikely to have any major benefit over its excellent 1.0VVT petrol and 1.4 litre D4-D units for most consumers, went some way I am sure towards the decision to can the idea - at least for the European market.
gerrrg 6:21PM (7/29/2009)
It would have made for a better 0-60 start, though.
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okrollaboy 6:23PM (7/29/2009)
Great, one less hybrid to worry about. Pissing down the highway in the fast lane going slow to maximize their fuel economy. If they really want to maximize their fuel economy and lessen thei r"carbon footprint" they should get on some form of public transportation
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tankd0g 12:28AM (7/30/2009)
Actually most Priuses I've seen on the road are breaking the speed limit, presumably they THINK they are saving so much money they can go 20% faster then us environmental rapists..
okrollaboy 1:45PM (7/30/2009)
"Enviromental Rapist", love that term. LMAO
inline6 6:53PM (7/29/2009)
Wow...seems like Toyota is raining on everyone's hybrid parade.
They were the first to say the Volt wouldn't work because the battery tech won't be ready.
And now they're indirectly poo-pooing the upcoming Fit-based hybrid by saying that a hybrid the size of a Yaris wouldn't be worth it.
They sound more and more like old GM every day.
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Farmboy 6:59PM (7/29/2009)
The cost savings vs the car's cost would be about as red as Detroit's income last year. It makes sense, but Toyota is sounding like GM, a lot.
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1337 7:10PM (7/29/2009)
Give us the diesel model instead?
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ChaoZ 7:18PM (7/29/2009)
Why?! Just go full electric for something that small.
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tankd0g 12:31AM (7/30/2009)
> Such a vehicle would be unnecessary, according to the unnamed source.
Comments from the previous article are sources now? The miserly engine that's in the Yaris in europe is not available here and never will be. The 1.5 is anemic and could sure do with a boost in city fuel economy.
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why not the LS2LS7? 1:10AM (7/30/2009)
As long as hybrids get into downtown London without paying a daily fee, there is a reason enough to make any hybrid for the English market, even if it only improves mpg 0.1%. Sorry to be so crass about it, but it's true.
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Bloke 8:50AM (7/30/2009)
If you know London well enough, it's far easier, cheaper, and less hassle to take the tube to work.
Bloke 9:08AM (7/30/2009)
Whatsmore, the majority of the British population doesn't commute into London and of those who do, the majority don't drive into London.
why not the LS2LS7? 1:33PM (7/30/2009)
The convenience of the tube hasn't stopped people from wanting to drive into central London so far, nor has the congestion fee. I see no reason this is going to change tomorrow.
Your second argument is completely specious. You don't need a majority of the population to make a market for a vehicle.
Bloke 2:15PM (7/30/2009)
"The convenience of the tube hasn't stopped people from wanting to drive into central London so far, nor has the congestion fee. I see no reason this is going to change tomorrow."
I didn't say it had stopped driving into central London. However, the vast majority of London's commuters travel in via train, the tube and bus. And the congestion charge has itself significantly cut the amount of traffic going into the City since it was introduced.
"Your second argument is completely specious. You don't need a majority of the population to make a market for a vehicle."
Of course you don't. But your claim was it should be marketed in "England" (as opposed to the UK) simply because of the London congestion charge!! To market a vehicle which is already unlikely to provide any cost benefit compared with other models in one's own model range (iQ, Aygo, and other Yaris models) to a small portion of the country's population makes no business sense whatsoever.