4th generation coming 2015!

I'm wondering if Toyota will debut the new Prius at the Tokyo Auto Show in Oct-Nov.

 

isn't it what they did in the past? hopefully late pre-production "concept"

 

By late Oct. early Nov. 2015 it should be the production model intro. Not holding my breath, been blue before.

 

Crickets....Kind of lame not to get even a teaser when we first saw the test mule 2013, other drawn concepts since 2011 - now nothing for 2 years except blurbs of looking like another concept and EV disdain. Really odd strategy.

Tesla Model X delaye dagain, I wonder if that could happen with the Prius too!

 

Toyota would lose tremendous market share if they delayed the Prius again. Hopefully the new styling and specs will be worth the wait. Bein patient such though. Impressive they can keep this stuff secret.

 

....or (Devil's Advocacy), it could simply be "...saying nothing..." because Toyoa "...has nothing..." to say.

 

I don't especially want to agree with you 70AARCUDA, but I am becoming suspicious that Toyota is experiencing difficulties meeting expectations. I hope the technical details of the G4 have been finished and tested, and the hold-up is the exterior design. For whatever reason, Toyota is permitting the competition to make public interest gains. If Toyota brings to market a really exciting design, they can get the momentum back, but each day that passes, there are defectors that are becoming excited about competitors features that are being trumpeted in the media. The automotive magazines are full of details and even pictures of many 2016 models.

 

I agree. If there was something exciting, such as AWD, wouldn't Toyota have confirmed it by now, to limit defections? The silence indicates that they'd rather have us imagine the possibilities than be underwhelmed by reality.
Combined with the hoopla around the hydrogen Mirai, I'm wondering about Toyota's long term strategy. Apparently there's a big push for hydrogen in Japan due to the Fukushima disaster. However, I don't see any rationale for hydrogen in North America for a long time, if ever. According to an article in the Japan times, there is already blowback against the mirai in China because of the Japanese government's support for hydrogen. Meanwhile, battery technology is improving rapidly, but Toyota dismisses EV's as impractical and expensive (as if hydrogen isn't). KIA has just presented an eAWD hybrid version of the Soul.
Is Toyota struggling to navigate conflicting pressures from foreign and domestic markets? If the G4 simply maximizes mpg, it will lose those of us seeking improvements in performance; if it sacrifices efficiency for performance, it will lose ground domestically to other hybrids, which are very popular in Japan. It reminds me of what the late coach Dean Smith used to do when UNC had the lead late in the game: spread the floor and run out the clock. Will the G4 be a creative play or a stalling tactic?

 

What Can We Expect For The 2016 Prius? - HybridCars.com

 

Yes...a new article saying the same thing over a year...not sure what the point of this is! Toyota didn't spill anything new to them so......

I honestly think if the car looks a bit better and its 60+ mpg it's worth a buy. I don't think it has to outclass Tesla or Ford Fusion

 

All I got from that article were the repeated usage of words "...could...maybe...might...possibly..."

 

Wow, a 2nd six month delay huh. That would make 7 years from release of Gen 3 to gen4
We're already 6 years a a month from Gen 3 unveil to now.

 

Today I was catching up on some reading, and read an article in the January, 2015 Consumer Report about direct injection (DI). A good article. But one thing that grabbed my attention was ..... DI enables engineers to get more power and greater fuel efficiency from smaller power plants. Turbocharging even enhances the power and efficiency. The article then stated, thus enabling manufacturers to get nearly the same fuel efficiency as the hybrids, without the $4000 hybrid premium.

My thought immediately went back to "the beginning of the end of the Prius" article. Perhaps, Toyota is finding the market for hybrids is becoming so narrow that it is not cost effective to continue to develop the hybrid??? Your thoughts?

 

The research that I read says only ≈10-11% benefits from DI. And, that was from a Japanese engine manufacturer.

 

I agree that the Prius' niche is smaller than ever. It's being squeezed by plugins at one end and more efficient ICE's at the other. Presumably, the Prius will incorporate advancements in both engines and batteries, but even the Prius' original engineer has acknowledged how difficult it would be to squeeze another 10% efficiency out of the hybrid system. That said, if they can hit 60 mpg and keep the cost down and improve driving experience, it would be pretty hard to beat.

 

that's why we're all going fcv baby! yee haw!!!

 

the secret to lowering pollution, and getting off foreign oil is not figuring out how to make the prius more efficient, it's figuring out how to move fannies from less efficient cars to more efficient ones. it would be more effective to make the car more attractive and lower the price, than it would be to increase efficiency by 10%.

 

In my view DI helps with getting more power/torque, this means that you can have (slightly) smaller engine with the same power. DI does not increase peak efficiency (TS040 uses port injection), but it can make engine more efficient at lower power band (lean burn).

Also a big drawback is emission that can form a fair amount of PM, and NOx, just like diesel.

It's also interesting that Toyota is not that loud any more about hybridizing every model. They presented the most recent Avensis for EU market and they said that there is no plan in next 5 years to offer a hybrid drivetrain in it. Camry or 300h drivetrain would suit well and definitely offer something that European competition can not offer. There is a speculation that Camry could come to EU, but why not Avensis hybrid? Is profit from a hybrid car so much smaller than from conventional, I don't get it?

I

 

^Some I can puzzle out, but drawing a blank on these:

DI?
TS040?
PM?