The Gen III just came out this year, why would toyota be talking about an AWD Prius? Thats because it is not Toyota!!! The new AWD prius will be called the SUbaru Prius, thats right Subaru.. For many that do not know, Toyota owns 16% of the Japanese Company Subaru. As a matter of fact Subaru has the worlds best AWD system and the Boxer engine, which toyota bought from Subaru 2 years ago. So for the new prius, it will be an AWD vehicle with a lithium ion battery. --For the record-- I sell subaru, so i have been to meeting on this vehicle already* They say it will be out by 2012 or 2013-- Anyway it will have the features of the current prius, plus some, the Hybrid S. D. that toyota has invnted, and the AWD and handeling of a subaru. This will redefine the prius. You will have equal or greater gas mileage with the lithium ion battery, that will either have the same regenerative properties as the current prius, or will be a plug in. If it is a plug in, the battery will go from dead to full in just 15 minutes on a 120 volt outlet. I just wanted to let everyone know what is comming up. PS If you dont know what ity is like to drive a subaru just go to a local dealer for a test drive, no one says you have to buy! Any comments are welcome as well as thoughts and suggestions for the new Subaru Prius.. Also who thinks it will be a bust, or another trophy winner!!!
Well i did find a few items on the world wide web I was also at subaru training for the new 2010 Legacy and outback where they discussed it for about 15 minutes, as far as dates mileage and other features i am in the dark with the rest...
well if what you said is true, that's pretty awesome. Although.... it's not gonna be symmetrical AWD, right? That requires a centre diff... a Subaru Prius would probably use a rear elec. motor.
Well.. the follwoing is only a speculatio.. On the 2010 SUbaru outback and legacy they now have CVT trans, It is the worlds first longitudily mounted cvt as a center differential, so i am going to assume it WILL BE symetrical AWD by using the CVT as the center dif as subaru currently does... My only questions is the gas mileage... Also the handeling ahhh i cant wait, i love the prius and the subaru ride, when you add them together.. what a combo...:cheer2: Almost forgot about the rear electric motor, my oly thought is waht happens in the rare even lol, that the rear wheels do slip?? Will that destroy the electric motor? These are thing i would like to hear about...
The prius doesn't really have a CVT...they call it an eCVT, but it really isn't so I don't think there'll be any interchangability there. The rear electric motor won't break from slippage and would have a traction control/over-speed protection just as it does on the Highlander Hybrid with MGR.
Ok, thats understandable. I am not to familiar with the other toyota hybrids and their features.. now let me ask you this... will the electric motor be able to be in sync with the symetrical AWD The way it works is like this: Where ever power is needed most is where it is sent but even the wheels on the same axle can spin at different speeds, then if you still cant get out of the snow, just hit the VDC switch and it locks those 2 wheels together for the "normal" AWD condition .. This is one of the many things they will have to work out, also which will add more wait, we dont need anymore weight
Not going to be much battery if it will go from dead to full in 20 min. from a 15 to20 amp outlet. Wonder what else may not be correct.
i've had 5 subarus over the past 12 years. i kept screaming to bring on the hybrid they had 4 years ago. they didn't. it was projected to get 42mpg and 0-60 in 7.5 seconds this news is not new. i bailed to a prius. and there have been hint's of Subaru maybe hitting the Toyota parts bin for a hybrid. http://green-cars.blogspot.com/2005/04/subaru-scrambler.html
That may be true for a regular battery such as the nicle cadium, but we are talking about a lithium ion, these batteries hold larger charges and give more power over longer periods of time... I dont know what they will do but i am eager to find out
If FHI comes out with a hybrid I doubt it would be called a "prius"... unless you think "prius" is synonymous with "hybrid". Anyways, I have always loved the scoobies as a former owner of a WRX and STi. It would be cool to see a boxer mated with HSD If they re-use the Prius I4, I think it would be the first Subaru to not use horizontally opposed pistons.
FYI - 15 minutes of charging at 120 volts gives you the following (for those who don't know, watts = volts x amps): At 15 amps (normal U.S. house wiring): 15 x 120 = 600 watts / hr; or 150 watts in 15 minutes. So this miracle Subaru will apparently have a battery that holds .15 kWh - enough to drive the current Prius less than 1 mile in EV mode.
I would bet pretty much anything this will never happen. Toyota isn't going to license the valuable Prius name and brand to Subaru, whether they own a small share of it or not. They may be referring to a "AWD Subaru Prius, meaning a small hatchback bybrid with AWD, but I would be *flabbergasted* if it actually sold with the name "Prius". No way.
I hope this is somewhere near what will happen. Since our new Prius V/AT is coming in mid-October (hope springs eternal), we're going to dump the '94 Integra and keep the '01 Audi A4 AWD because it is a better snow car, newer, etc, etc. So a Subaru AWD, or any reliable make, with MUCH better mileage, regardless of the technology, would be welcome in the time frame mentioned. Bring it!
Old math indicates that 15A x 120V = 1800W. I'm not familiar with any 'new math' that gets 600. And ditch that '/hr', it is incorrect. Standard new wiring is now 20A, but electric codes limit the maximum design load to 16A, or 1920W. In 15 minutes, that is 0.48 kwh, still significantly smaller than the current Prius battery capacity. That makes for exceedingly short plug-in EV range. This is not a battery chemistry issue, it is a matter of fundamental physics -- Convervation of Energy.
I didn't like the reliability on the one and only one Suburau I owned, but I'd buy an AWD hybrid car with 40+ mpg. They do need to put power seats in it to entice me away from my Prius though.
As a matter of fact, 20A is not standard yet. I am also an electrician. And the code can only limit so much, they can not control what you plug into the plugs. The brakers are designed to take up to a few more amps than rated just for a second, then it will trip because certain things like pumps, when they start take a lot of power compared to when they run.. WITH THE BATTERY: LITHIUM BATTERIES ARE MADE DIFFERENT if you take a regular 9 v and a lithium, which one will last longer ?!?! They also charge faster so that formula IS NOT correct... I also want o state that this is only what i heard about the "subaru Hybrid" I am only the messanger. As far as being called the SUbaru Prius, that is what they refered to it as: it will still have the same Hybrid system (synergy Drive) as the toyotas. But i do not know what it will look like or what not...
The chemistry of the battery won't help. It's the amount of energy you can get -OUT- of the plug, not what you can put -IN- to the battery. Stop being a salesman and stretching the truth! I've owned Subarus. They are nice cars. The hypothetical one being discussed here would get -write it on the wall, it's my prediction- maybe 35 MPG. AWD is an energy waster. Using "magic words" such as "hybrid", "Synergy drive", or "lithium Ion battery" will not change the facts! Look at the Highlander hybrid. How much better than the "standard" Highlander is it mileage wise? Not as much as being claimed here! Take off your rose coloured glasses! This goes into the category of "everyone is bringing out a hybrid or electric vehicle -real soon now-". I'll believe it when I see it.
