Detroit Auto Show: Building a better Prius
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.
for everyone complaining about blind spots, let me guess, you're one of those drivers like Mark Garcia mentioned. try driving a truck or suv, your blind spots can literally hide cars and if you complain about blind spots on a prius, i'm afraid of driving on the same road as you.
i don't understand how a small blind spot on the back of a car is a deal-breaker. are you driving around in reverse all day long or something? i'll give you a tip, when pulling reverse into a parking spot, you have plenty of time to see how much space you have, and use good judgement. that's if you can park reverse or reverse into a parallel parking space. and fyi, i drive a ford f350 with blind spots so big suv's disappear, yet never had an issue with parking, hitting other objects or cars for that matter. just learn to drive.
Posted by: MT | January 12, 2009 at 03:40 PM
In some circles it's unpopular to say anything good about the Prius. But I could care less about what is stylish. Style and image are for air-headed runway models. As a science-geek I love the rock-bottom emissions ratings, and I love Toyota's track record for reliability. I'm not sold on the new Prius yet, but I'll definitely be taking a serious look. I suspect the Chevy Volt will be out of my price range when it finally debuts, but I'll have to see.
Posted by: Cenwyc | January 12, 2009 at 05:26 PM
The L.A. Times writer needs to get the facts straight on Prius design features, because both the electric-powered a.c. and water pump (as well as steering and braking) were part of the original '04 design. That electric water pump also briefly works after the car is turned off, pumping the hot water into a stainless steel vacuum bottle to make the engine warm-up faster on the next start, vastly lowering the emissions. The solar-powered ventilation system is nice for hot climates, but the nifty thing is that it can be turned on remotely to blow out that super hot air that builds up on a sunny day.
Posted by: Jim Hawk | January 12, 2009 at 06:49 PM
Solar powered ventilation.... where have I heard that?.... OH WAIT! The Audi A8 from 2000. This is ground breaking innovation? A decade old concept?
Posted by: Mike | January 12, 2009 at 06:49 PM
Hmm, I don't mind the look actually. I was thinking that in Latin the ending -us ( singular ), becomes -i ( plural ). So, they should be Prei ( plural ) if I am not mistaken. Any Latin scholars want to chime in here ? Next up, what do you call several of them gathered together ? A "herd" of Prei ? A flock ? A Lane of Prei ? A Lot ? Is it just me ?
Posted by: Mike | January 12, 2009 at 06:50 PM
I am on my second 2-nd generation Prius. Could not wait for the 2010 model (dealership says should be available in Sept. 2009). Will be sure to test drive one when available. This one looks like elongated Matrix. I don't get the bumped out headlights, too but I'm going to withhold my judgment until I see the real thing or at the very least more photos.
Posted by: DA | January 13, 2009 at 08:58 AM
So I suppose the plug-in version with the Li-Ion battery cell will come later. I was hoping a more innovative exterior design. It doesn't look much different from my 2005 Prius. Frankly, I prefer the exterior design of the new Honda Insight. A MPG improvement of 4MPG? That isn't much at all. I predict a major "improvement" in the following years since this one isn't THAT big of an improvement IMO.
Posted by: Canicus | January 13, 2009 at 08:58 AM
Mike -- Depends on whether Prius is a second declension noun or a fourth declension noun:
Second = Prius (singular) Prii (plural)
Fourth = Prius (singular) Prius (plural)
I'm betting Toyota considers it a fourth declension noun!
Posted by: Roger Pariseau | January 13, 2009 at 08:59 AM
Prius drivers, tint your windows.
Posted by: H Tran | January 13, 2009 at 08:59 AM