Toyota to Introduce “Hybrid X†at Geneva Show

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(larkinmj @ Mar 6 2007, 02:27 PM) [snapback]401037[/snapback]</div>

For Sapphire Fire? Yes.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DaveinOlyWA @ Mar 6 2007, 01:16 PM) [snapback]400935[/snapback]</div>

This being a concept design, they aren't talking much about the powerplant. But the next Prius will certainly have better MPG, and it seems that they will go to lithium batteries. And if Toyota listens at all to us, it WILL be a plug-in!

 

The cargo area under the hatch is a lot smaller too. And the hatch now looks more like a trunk....shorter.

Plus going from a five passenger to a four passenger?

I'm thinking this isn't replacing the Prius. It's adding a smaller hybrid to the Toyota lineup. I'm all for that.

BTW I think when it goes from concept to production, that glass roof is going to be metal and have the same grooves the Prius has.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Mar 7 2007, 05:00 PM) [snapback]401845[/snapback]</div>

If this is in fact the next Prius, I'm sure that the rear swivel seats won't make it to production (probably too expensive, for one thing). Or they may offer them as an option (just as Nissan offered an option to make the rear seat in the Maxima for two passengers with a console in the middle). Too many people rely on a sedan to hold five people. And I'm sure you're right about the roof, as cool as it is.

 

Wow! It's the "bubble car" of the future "they" promised us all the way back in the streamlined era ofthe '30s. All it needs is a charging station that looks like the Trylon and Perisphere and we'll be all set to drive around Metropolis following the robot goddess while our children drown in the bowels of the machine!

I want my bubble car!!!



<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(notyou @ Feb 14 2007, 05:49 PM) [snapback]390502[/snapback]</div>

I vote for voice recognition software. You name your car when you get it, they record your voice addressing it, and then once you drive off from the showroom, all you have to do it talk to it and it obeys your every whim. Kind of like Knight Rider .... B)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Mar 7 2007, 01:00 PM) [snapback]401845[/snapback]</div>

This design makes perfect sense if slated for the Japanese market. Many vehicles over there are smaller than the Fit, so if this is Fit-sized, it'll "fit" right in. Many of the vehicles smaller than the Fit are usually 4 passengers also since Japanese families, and passengers, aren't that big.

Could make a great commuter/quick-shop vehicle, although it's still really too big for that.

 

It looks like OS X in car form. The head-on view is nice.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(LMA @ Mar 7 2007, 07:08 PM) [snapback]401923[/snapback]</div>

Didn't the car address the driver by name in "Until the End of the World"?

 

Hi All,

Very nice external shape on this car.

I DO NOT like the see-through roof. Toyota had not shown it can make cockpit electronics or dash-boards (with soy plastic) that can withstand the high summer temperatures that such a roof would result in. Less strength in the roof would also make the car more flexible, when the Prius is already too flexible.

If they want a see-through roof, then they need to do the "Space Ship One" treatment. So that the mechanical plate strength of the roof will be maintained. The clear circles in such a configuration could be LCD panels that go white when the interior temp exceeds 70 F, or setable by switch when the car is occupied.

One can see the design logic behind the suicide doors. The goal was to push the rear seats waaay back, but now rear-opening doors would be over the wheels. Hey - maybe that is not such a bad idea anyway, not as sexy as suicide doors though.

Pushing the rear seats way-back is a 20 year old feature - think double date. Not a mom-and-pop feature, as the kids will be too far back to communicate with, and zero room for a dog and less for groceries and building supplies and flea market (unexpected) large objects. Let alone room for the third kid. Maybe they will like it in China? As they are kid limited by the government. I however, Do not like the pushed back seats. A car for me is much more utilitarian than this kind of socializing statement.

So, the cojecture that this is the 20-something Hybrid FIT fighter probably makes sense.

I would only like to see the external shape - especially the concealed windshield wipers, and side dams on the next gen Prius. I have thinking about moding my Prius the same way, actually.

This design does allot to minimize parts count - which is slick. The headlight lens is actually an extended windshield.

The front-seat interior is nice - but AX the pilots-yoke steering wheel and the futurama MFD. They can do allot better with what they started with in the 2004 year Prius.





Oh, and I almost forgot --- WHERE CAN I GET THOSE WHEELS FOR MY PRIUS !

 

So...how does the hood open? Just the middle piece or the entire windshield?

And where are you gonna put the hood deflector you're gonna need to protect the windshield and the headlight area? Because replacing that sucker is gonna cost.

Um...no bumper to speak of. Is that street legal in California?

I can see this being a hybrid Fit. With some tweaking it could also become a small hybrid sports car.

But I still think it's an artists rendering. Look at the door handles

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(donee @ Mar 7 2007, 09:00 PM) [snapback]401970[/snapback]</div>

Those are cool wheels- actually, they look a lot like the wheels on the 2004 Prius concept car at the 2003 NY Auto Show. Maybe this time they'll make it to production!

 

Funny how the 'old' Prius suddenly doesn't look so 'cool', isn't it? The X is certainly interesting, but I don't find it especially attractive. I like the glass roof, but the air conditioning load is gonna kill the mileage unless the glass is photochromatic. And having replaced two front bumpers already, I wonder what it would cost to do the same on the X.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Mar 8 2007, 04:07 AM) [snapback]402061[/snapback]</div>

I saw that and sighed. Yet another car getting fatter, and fatter. The Prius is huge enough as it is, we don't need it even bulkier...

 

i be willing to bet that clear cover is not glass (that would be incredibly foolish) but something lighter and stronger. i saw a blurb on clear plastic of sorts that was more transparent than glass, lighter, stronger (bullet proof in fact) and had user settings that could change the opacity from clear to limo dark to nearly wall dimensions.

now would that be nice...after all in concept carland, anything is possible.

 

In regards to the design for the "Hybrid X", can someone explain to me why the doors are referred to as "suicide" doors? I am not familiar with the term.

Also, I wonder what the coefficient of drag would be on this baby? Thanks.