TOKYO — The fifth-generation Toyota Prius is due subsequent 12 months. A onetime byword for eco-friendly driving, the automotive that put hybrid autos on the minds of buyers faces a brand new problem: find out how to be related in a sea of cutting-edge electrical autos.
The Prius helped make Toyota Motor Corp. a inexperienced automotive hero when the modern, quirky compact debuted because the world’s first mass-produced electrified automotive in 1997.
However 25 years later, the automotive’s hybrid drivetrain — which bolts an old-school inner combustion engine onto an electrical motor and battery setup — appears oh-so-yesterday amongst at the moment’s choices.
Simply how a lot have Prius fortunes flagged? Take into account this: World gross sales of the usual Prius hatchback peaked at 509,380 autos in 2010. By final 12 months, it had plunged to simply 85,970.
Hypothesis runs sizzling within the Japanese motor press about how Toyota will revamp the Prius, the most recent incarnation of which, with its closely creased sheet metallic, went on sale in North America in 2016.
Some media report that the approaching redesign was on account of arrive in December, however that the launch was pushed off to the spring of 2023 due to the worldwide microchip scarcity.
Each time it lands, many wager that the nameplate might be remade right into a sportier coupe-style four-door. The overhaul may additionally deliver massive enhancements in gas financial system and driving dynamics.
Finest Automotive on-line journal says the Prius might be repositioned as a enjoyable, funky automotive that sacrifices a sure diploma of consolation and utility.
The engine might be largely a carryover 1.8-litre four-banger, however it is going to get an up to date hybrid system with a newly developed lithium ion battery now displaying up within the new Japan-market household vans, the Noah and Voxy. Finest Automotive additionally predicted a 23-per-cent enhance in gas financial system for the subsequent Prius.
One other on-line automotive web site, Cobby, speculated the Prius could even undertake a crossover-inspired physique. Most Japanese automotive mags appear satisfied the Prius will keep hybrid and never go full EV.
However will such updates be sufficient to make the Prius a participant once more?
Toyota as soon as had excessive hopes for the automotive. It constructed a complete sub-brand across the title — together with the Prius V wagon, the Prius Prime plug-in and the subcompact Prius C. At one level, the automotive’s North American future was so brilliant that Toyota deliberate to construct the automotive at a brand new meeting plant in Blue Springs, Miss. That might complement output from the mom manufacturing unit in Japan, the Tsutsumi meeting plant in Toyota Metropolis.
At this time, the Prius household has withered away. Solely the usual hatchback and plug-in are nonetheless on sale within the North America. And the Blue Springs manufacturing unit, which opened in 2011, produces Corollas as an alternative.
The Prius title itself is a part of the automotive’s quandary. Nissan, for instance, pioneered battery electrics with the Leaf. However that automotive by no means matched the Prius’ affect. Nissan is now stated to be phasing out the Leaf on the finish of its cycle. The upshot: No massive deal.
It is a completely different story for “Prius.”
The model fairness wrapped up in that title is simply too worthwhile to squander. For Toyota to yank the Prius could be to show its again on a quarter-century of inexperienced company citizenship constructed round spearheading a wholly new expertise.
The title “Prius” derives from a Latin phrase which means “to go earlier than.” It alerts the engineering that made the automotive Toyota’s showcase for its most superior expertise — together with lithium ion batteries, super-slick aerodynamics, photo voltaic panels and even sun-refracting paint.
However now, Prius has taken a backseat to brighter, shinier issues — such because the Mirai hydrogen gas cell sedan. And shortly, an entire new lineup of Toyota EVs might be consistent with the most recent trade and buyer developments, because the world seemingly goes gaga over vehicles with out tailpipes.
Even for individuals who nonetheless need a hybrid, fewer want a devoted, hybrid-only providing. Toyota now gives hybrid variations of a number of nameplates. In 2021, the RAV4 Hybrid was its top-selling hybrid within the U.S. by far: Prospects purchased 120,983 RAV4s, however solely 33,968 Priuses (not together with 25,042 Prius Primes).
A radical revamp in efficiency or effectivity may assist hold the Prius contemporary. But when the Prius stays hybrid in an EV world, it should reside as much as its legacy by main the best way with one thing new.
Toyota is for certain to maintain the Prius title. The query might be how Toyota will hold the automotive’s leading edge.