Toyota mulls whether to change Prius look to widen appeal

Just pointing out some changes you are asking for are already there.

Its easy to understand in a car like the XL1. You probably get a 20% increase in mpg, and they are going for the highest. In the more affordable jetta hybrid vw agrees with you and has gone with gasoline to reduce weight and cost.

I doubt it will even make it to america, its likely a europe only car. We can guess modes from the jetta hybrid though. Engine will go shut off automatically normally and driver can initiate it like in the prius by accelerator action. The jetta also has a ev button that shuts off the ice even at higher speeds as long as it doesn't need it for power. It has a clutch unlike the insight, so the electric motor can still provide power when the ice is off (like the prius). I would expect a hypermiler could get atleast 50% higher mileage in the xl1 versus an insight.

The slightly staggered seats allow for shoulder and hip room while reducing width which reduces both drag and weight. They don't expect to sell many, but this is one of the aerodynamics at cost of unconventional. If you want to know how far toyota can go to get great aerodynamics look at the xl1. They likely will keep a wide backseat with room for 5 which greatly increases drag. Still will a 100mpg 2 seater sell as well as a 55mpg 5 seater. I don't think so.

 

Prius t ?

 

I can't see a abat doing well compared to a tacoma. They could make the taco more aerodynamic, give it a hybrid drive, and a downsized 4 cylinder turbo. Lots of folks here would buy one, but it might wait for that ford/toyota R&D that usb talked about.

I think those markets that want an abat don't really buy hybrids.

I could see a cute ute hybrid, that allowed you to block off the rear from liquids and fumes and hose it out. That would be really cool. It would need to be quite different from the rav4 but might be able to be built on that platform.

Here is the 2011 rumor about the abat though
Report: Scion Pickup Coming in 2014

GOOD CAR BAD CAR: Truck Sales
In september the ridgeline sold 1060 versus 12176 of the tacoma. I can't see many truck or CUV people choosing a ridgeline like hybrid.

 

I would second that. A true hybrid truck (HyTaco) would do much better than that mutant looking thing. Very low percentage of truck buyers would buy something that looked that un-truck-like.

 

A dedicated full hybrid truck engineered to maximize everything that possibly could, is more attractive to me than "hybridizing" the existing gas truck.

 

I understand that would be true for quite a few of us on here. I am simply guessing what other truck buyers might do. And living in Nebraska and growing up in rural areas I feel like I have a better grip of that than the average Joe (not saying you are average).

 

You sure have a better grip than I do, in that area.

 

And austin has an even better idea. The overall midwest is where the vast majority of trucks are sold but Texas as a whole sells more trucks than anyone per capita. The Texas State Fair makes this very apparent. It is unbelievable the displays they have set up for trucks.

 

Absolutely true but that isn't what the abat was. It was a cute ute, with a truck bed instead of a solid shell. A cross between an el cameno and a rav4. Honda did a similar thing in the ridgeline, and I don't think making it a hybrid would make it sell better.

A ground up hybrid truck would be better than just adding a hsd to the Tacoma, but the tacoma is a really good truck. Its a much better starting point for truck people than that abat thing. You probably only need 1500lb towing. Better mileage would help the tacoma eat into f150 and silverado sales for people that don't need a full size.

 

If both Toyota and Ford are working on truck HSD, I am sure it'll be made scalable from A-BAT all the way to Tundra/F series.

 

That could be true, or the A-bat might just get the camry hybrid system ;-) I think that was the original intent.

The a-bat came from a time when wantenabe thought Toyota was going to conquer the American truck market. I would not be surprised if Toyota got bids from suppliers, just so they would have data to kill the beast internally. The green light was from 2008. The thing is much like the ridgeline and a little like the avalanche. These beasts don't sell well enough for toyota to be profitable, unless it needs the a-bat for truck cafe purposes. I could be wrong, and they might greenlight it again, but I doubt it will do any better than the hs 250. If the abat is going to sell in volume they need to drastically change it from the 2007 concept.

I would say this still holds
Toyota A-BAT will remain a concept... for now

 

I feel like we just hijacked this thread with truck talk, but it beginning to become a great discussion. I agree, if you are going to make a hybrid truck, it needs to be a truck. A CUV with a bed just won't cut it with most truck buyers.
I'm no engineer, but hopefully someone reading this is smarter on the subject than me. How difficult would it be to make a diesel-electric hybrid pick-up? You could probably base it on any of the current heavy duty pick up platforms; i.e F-250, Ram 2500, GM 2500, or even a Tundra.
A diesel engine is most efficient when it is cruising at constant speed. So if you have the electric motor to take care of acceleration and slow speed, you can use the diesel to cruise at higher speeds and charge the battery packs. The use of the heavy duty chassis would allow for the larger batteries, as well as the additional extra electric motor(s).
Due to the natural high torque of electric motors, you shouldn't lose much in way of pulling power. On top of that, today's diesels are cleaner burning than gas powered motors. Not to mention the ability to use bio-diesel as an alternative.
I'm sure it's a lot more complicated than I made it out to be, but I just wish one of the manufacturers would pursue this route.


iPad ? HD

 

I don't think it would be very difficult. A truck needs to tow and haul which means a pretty heavy hsd like in the Lexus LSh to handle the torque. That is too expensive the way it is currently designed. A solution may be a style like the German hybrids, a traditional high efficient transmission with clutched electric motor and lithium battery. Add in the hihy's 4wd system and it should work. The battery would need to be higher capacity to handle the higher loads. Add in the price of a diesel it might be too much money. A DI turbo gasoline engine may approach the efficiency of a diesel though, especially if it is valved to be able to operate in the miller cycle.
+1

Yes the trouble with diesel is cost for trucks, they are definitely more efficient. Weight doesn't matter as much with a truck either.

 

"Would like to see the menu"


DailyTech - Toyota Readies Fourth Generation Prius, Will Reportedly Achieve 60 MPG



SNEAK PEAK! The 2015 NEW 4G TOYOTA PRIUS!!! | Stage 10 Productions Inc.

 

I like the Toyota Prius v profile and look but it needs a Lithium ion battery pack to compete with the Ford C-max hybrid. If the Prius v had something like the Honda Fit magic seats that would be really cool too.

 

They arent selling enough already? Sunset blvd is like the prius brigade around these parts