Detroit Auto Show: Building a better Prius
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Toyota Motor Corp. finally lifted the veil from its completely redesigned Prius this morning in Detroit at the North American International Auto Show. The big news: 50 miles per gallon.
Spy shots leaked on the car not long ago, but Toyota’s Bob Carter, group division head and general manager, did titillate the standing-room-only audience with a few details about the new car, due out in the U.S. and Japan this spring.
Carter said the third-generation Prius would beat its predecessor by 4 mpg, a 9% improvement in fuel economy, thanks to a more efficient engine and smaller, lighter components. At the same time, this Prius ups the engine-only juice to 98 horsepower thanks to new, 1.8-liter four-pot, and the combined electric/internal-combustion hybrid potency is up to 134 horsepower (the second-gen Prius pumps out 76 hp and 110 hp, respectively).
Rumors of a solar roof option proved to be true, but not as people had imagined. Instead of a solar-powered air conditioning system, the new Prius has a solar-powered ventilation system. Carter explained that this would take some of the load off the air-conditioning system by pre-cooling the interior of the car on hot days. That’s nifty, we think, but not exactly game-changing.
Apparently it takes quite a bit of juice to run an air conditioner. But because the A/C typically draws on the engine thanks to belts, Toyota has invented another nifty feature: belt-less air conditioning. Instead, the new Prius will have air that runs entirely on battery power, which Carter called the first of its kind.
To further reduce parasitic drain on the engine, the Prius’ water pump is also electric. Without all the hindrances, the Prius is able to drop its zero-to-60 time to 9.8 seconds from 10.4 seconds, ‘on par with a mid-sized sedan,’ Carter said.
The new car will use the same battery as the old one, but Carter said it would be able to operate in a pure-EV mode as well as ‘economy’ and ‘power’ settings. No word on how much range it will have on battery power alone.
Carter said the new Prius’ coefficient of drag drops to 0.25, which is one-hundredth of a point better than the current model. All while increasing interior volume by 5 cubic feet.
Toyota sold about 160,000 Priusi (Priususes? Prions?) last year. In its first year of sales, Carter predicts, the new model will move about 180,000.
Take that, Honda Insight!
-- Ken Bensinger
Photo (top): The next-gen Prius will get 50 mpg, Toyota says. Credit: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times
Photo (botto): A roof ventilation system is designed to ease the load on the A/C.
Related photos: 2010 Toyota Prius