4th generation coming 2015!

I am down with the 4wd!

 

When I went through my Audi 4000S Quattro phase, I considered it one of the greatest cars I ever owned! Hi Torque 5 cylinder engine, 5 speed, and the 4 wheel drive was the icing on the cake. I ran that car for 10 years, what a great ride it was! 4WD in a sedan rocks!

 

Just awful. That design turns my stomach it is so bad. If that's what Toyota really wants their genIV to look like, then I will spend my 2015 dollars away from the Prius line.

 

Looks sportier to me. Time will tell

 

You don't live in a snow belt. My wife and I are trying to wait for a high MPG AWD car. Our 2004 Prius (236k miles) probably can last till 2015, but our 1996 Subaru Outback (260k miles) is reaching end of life and our 2001 Jetta (only 90k miles) shows signs of transmission problems (one of many known Jetta weaknesses).

The electric AWD system in the Highlander/Lexus Adds some weight but is much simpler than a mechanical AWD and doesn't have significant impact on MPG. It also improves low end acceleration for those wanting better performance. I would jump at the chance to get that system in a Prius at about a $2k price increase.

JeffD

 

AG,
From what I can see, and the link you provided, it looks like supercapacitors aren't yet ready for Prius use due to cost. Since you seem to know a bit about them, let me ask you a question. It looks like you could make use of the supercapacitor to capture more of the braking energy than the regenerative battery is capable of capturing. You could then use the captured energy for the initial effort needed to get the car moving again. Ignoring cost for the moment, wouldn't the tradeoff come down simply to how much extra energy the supercap could capture from breaking versus what the battery could capture? That would also save some amount of wear/tear on the battery I would think. But you would have the added weight of the supercap to consider too.

The ideal scenario being that you have a supercap that can store all the breaking energy, then release it for the initial acceleration. The supercap would weight very little, and cost very little. Unfortunately I don't imagine they are on the same Moore's Law slope that computer memory and flash drives are following.

RT

 

I liked that design.
If the 4th gen Prius ends up looking anything like that, count me in for yet another Prius!

 

I'm seriously all in. I think it is very much forward thinking. I'm just hoping it has an even lower drag and improved mpg. As for the design? Smokin hot, too cool to drool, I'm saving my pennies, well okay, quarters. Hope that color is one of the choices.

 

One cool feature for next Gen Prius to consider - a phone charging pad
The eBin in the center console at the base of the instrument panel is a clever cubby with a sliding cover to hold and charge electronic devices.

 

Thanks love this stuff! Where is the HSD.?

 

Wow I hope that's not it. Gen II looks better than that.

 

Perhaps in 2014 we will start to see spy photos

 

THAT IS NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!

 

Ok I'll play.

Dianne what does it look like ?

How do you know?

 

The AWD is key. AWD with a plug-in boost to 20 miles EV would be 100 mpg car for me.

Wonder what the mileage reduction is for AWD? With electric vehicles, this is just another electric traction motor at each of the rear wheels vs. the drive train and other penalties in weight in gasoline powered AWD. Hopefully just 10% so that AWD version is 55mpg with plug in version 20 miles EV and 55 mpg hybrid mode.

 

My question is will the gen 4 be at 15 or a 16, and if a 16 will it have an early summer of 15 release? I'm guessing the 15 will have a short release as did the 09. The real question is: does anybody really know the answers yet and if so can we find out?

 

Dianne works At a dealer, she may be privy to info, but may have a signed non disclosure to forbid providing details. This is a guess on my part.

 

Green Car Reports says expect more the NS4 design.