Toyota Motor is just not giving up on its flagship Prius hybrid anytime quickly, regardless of investing billions in all-electric automobiles amid criticism it hasn’t moved quick sufficient into the rising phase.

The automaker late Tuesday revealed new variations of the Prius hybrid and Prius Prime, a plug-in hybrid electrical car. Each are thought-about “electrified” automobiles fairly than all-electric. They proceed to make the most of gas-powered engines together with electrical elements that make the automobiles extra fuel-efficient.

Toyota didn’t launch U.S. specs for the 2023 Prius fashions, however the automobiles are noticeably completely different in styling than the present variations. The outside is sportier, much less quirky and seems to be extra aerodynamic. However the general silhouette remains to be recognizable as a Prius.

Transferring ahead with the Prius as different automakers vow to go all-electric within the years forward is a part of Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda’s electrification technique. The auto scion believes EVs aren’t the one resolution for automakers to achieve carbon neutrality – which the corporate hopes to do by 2050.

Simon Humphries, Toyota senior supervisor of design, did not draw back from current criticism concerning the firm’s ongoing plans to develop hybrids alongside battery-electric automobiles, or BEVs, and different potential applied sciences.

“With the present give attention to BEVs, it appears not a day goes by with out listening to, ‘So how lengthy are you going to proceed making hybrids for?’ Properly disclaimer: In the present day I’ll speak about Toyota’s new hybrid automobile,” Humphries stated throughout the livestreamed reveal in Japan.

Because the Prius launched in 1997, Toyota says it has bought greater than 20 million electrified automobiles worldwide. The corporate says these gross sales have averted 160 million tons of CO2 emissions, which is equal to the affect of 5.5 million all-electric battery automobiles.

Toyoda and different firm executives have stated all-electric automobiles aren’t viable for a lot of drivers – particularly within the foreseeable future – as not all areas of the world will undertake EVs on the similar tempo because of the excessive price of the automobiles in addition to a scarcity of infrastructure.

Humphries reiterated the corporate’s place, saying the “Prius is an eco-car inside everybody’s attain. With a view to obtain carbon neutrality, everybody on this planet should take part.”

“It is a automobile to be pushed by all individuals, not simply the few. That is its best power, and its the explanation for its existence,” he stated.

Within the U.S., the 2022 Prius begins at about $25,000 – far lower than most all-electric automobiles – and achieves as a lot as an EPA-certified 56 mpg. The 2022 Prius Prime plug-in hybrid begins at about $29,000 and has a 133 MPGe, which takes under consideration the 25-mile all-electric vary of the car in addition to the gas financial system of its gas-powered engine.