Third generation Toyota Prius in 2008?
Editor's Note - This article was written in 2005, click here for updates on the Third Generation Toyota Prius.The king of hybrid cars, the Toyota Prius, will offer a third generation hybrid drive for the 2008 model according to reports from Japan. Additionally, the new drive will also be included in the rest of Toyota's hybrids as well, such as the Highlander hybrid, Lexus RX400h, and the soon-to-be-released Camry hybrid.
According to one report, the new hybrid drive will offer new batteries that will be lighter than the current generation and will offer greater performance. The second generation Prius provided a significant increase in performance compared to the first generation, increasing battery power by 1.5 times. Thus far it has been stated that the new drive, "will cut prices for eco-friendly vehicles, reduce fuel costs and slash production expenses, company sources said."
Many analysts have noted that soon hybrid batteries will move from NiMH batteries to lithium-ion, but it has not been reported if this change will occur in time for the third generation Toyota hybrid drive.
Nonetheless, this could put Toyota far above the hybrid pack. By the time GM's hybrid program kicks into gear, Toyota will increase the fuel efficiency of their hybrids, while also offering better performance, and cheaper prices. Preliminary reports note that Toyota hybrid costs could be halved by this development.
At that pace, the fourth generation hybrid could possibly achieve prices in the same range as conventional vehicles, but offering significant gains in fuel efficiency. Imagine being able to buy either buy a 30 mpg conventional vehicle or a 60 mpg hybrid version for the same price.
Which would you buy?
Labels: Camry hybrid, fuel efficiency, Highlander hybrid, Hybrid Vehicles, Lexus hybrid, prius, toyota
posted by Dahcredyns at
8:46 AM
42 Comments:
Has Toyota taken a page out of Microsoft's play book? You know, the one where they announce well in advance, the upcoming "Real Meal Deal" that everyone just has to have, then keep potential purchasers on hold waiting for the promised sweet thing to appear.
Well it's working with this potential buyer - I may just wait and see for another year.
I think that Toyota is even a little confused itself about the third generation Prius. Toyota has maintained that the third generation Prius will be more fuel efficient and cheaper. Still, how will they accomplish this task?
Part of the problem for automakers has been waiting to see if lithium-ion batteries can develop fast enough to replace NiMH batteries before the next generation.
Thus, it seems many automakers are in a sort of speculative mode at this point in time.
Nonetheless, even without lithium-ion batteries, I think Toyota can still make big gains with the Prius in the next generation. Of course, lithium would make those gains easier.
The "reports" link in the article goes nowhere. So is this simply speculation? The facts in this article seem difficult to verify.
Arg... I need a new car now. I guess I will have to get a 2007 Prius. Oh well.
We'll trade in our 2005 Prius when the 2008 plug-in models come out. Sucks I need two cars now... :(
The original link to the reports was archived by Asahi.com, a process common with many Internet providers, especially news providers. Thus, the original link had stopped working, as will the current link, eventually.
A simple search of the Asahi website reproduced similar results regarding the 2008 Prius.
Still, yes my report was part speculation. Current reports from Asahi claim, "Toyota is developing a third-generation hybrid system, which will be smaller and lower-priced than the current system. It will go on the market as early as 2008."
Consequently, Toyota will eventually add the Hybrid Synergy Drive to all of its hybrids after this Drive is developed. If it will be developed by 2008, then one would assume it could make it into a Toyota Prius by 2008.
So, yes, I am speculating that the Third Generation Toyota Prius might be available sometime in 2008, though probably as a 2009 model.
Hays,
Just buy a used car to tie you over until then.
Since Toyota introduced the Prius, hybrid vehicles have become more and more popular in the U.S., this fuel efficient vehicles that is equipped with Edge Products and is powered commonly by gasoline. Its fuel efficiency is due to the use of an electric motor which supplies the additional power to help the engine.More developments like these, we can surely expect more hybrid vehicles roving our streets .
I would gladly buy the Gen X Prius or The Chevy Volt Tomorrow if I was given the Chance!
I would gladly buy the Prius X Hybrid if given the chance today!
They look like the next best thing!
"No-matter who killed the electric car I think its about time they resurect it!"
I think this vehicle could really make a difference in New York. Where they are looking at ways to reduce the pollutants of the environment by 30%.
I want a new Prius like you would not believe!
Only thing keeping me from a hybrid is the price tag.
Word that Toyota is coming out with a better and cheaper prius soon gives me hope that regular folks (not just rich people) can drive environmentally responsible cars also.
Please! Toyota, hurry it up with the better and CHEAPER Prius!!!
And, give it loads of storage space for family, pets, groceries...this is a one car household.
By the way, the windows are too small in previous Prius models. Please redesign it to have larger windows and be more like a station wagon (please).
I want a Prius like you wouldn't believe!
Only hinderance has been the huge price tag.
It is great to hear that Toyota is creating a new Prius that is both better and CHEAPER...it gives me hope that the ordinary family can afford to be ecologically responsible also.
I want, however, for the new Prius to be more like a station wagon with larger storage space and much larger windows.
This is a one car household that needs to haul around lots and lots of people, pets, stuff...
The Prius should be offered in a more family friendly shape.
The windows on older Prius models are ugly and too small.
The back end is wasted space that could easily be enlarged by making the rear more boxy.
Anyway, I applaud Toyota to dare to be different and give US consumers something other manufacturers are too cowardly to embrace. Thank you Toyota.
This is an old article. The next next generation will not be litium-ion, the have proven not to be sturdy enough. There will be 3 versions of Pruis. Named A, B and C. A will be smaller, B will be the same size as the 07, and the C will be larger and more conventional. No plugs required.
gretrt-
None of which you claim has been verified.
Yes, there are rumors that Toyota might delay the use of lithium on its hybrids, a story also posted on this blog.
Yes, Toyota has mentioned the possibility of derivative Prii, such as a city Prius, another story also mentioned on this blog.
Still, all of this is just rumor.
Auto Editors of Consumer Reports recently communicated at How Things Work that the next generation Prius won't happen until model year 2010.
I'm buying my third Prius during the summer of 2007 and will then buy the 3rd Gen Prius in late 2009.
I was waiting for the 2008 Lithium ION battery Model to buy a car, Specifically the Prius. I have just decided that I will not buy a new Prius if it can not get at least 80MPG or better. I refuse to give up my money for a car, if we are not making progress toward a reduction in Gasoline consumption.
I was ready to buy the 2008 Prius when I heard it would probably be able to achieve 80MPG. I have just decided that I will wait to buy the next Hybrid that does reach 80 MPG... But I refuse to spend 1 cent more on a vehicle that can not get at least to the 80MPG mark. Oh and by the way, the next Generation of vehicles, somewhere around say 2010-2012 had better double the mileage to at least 160 MPG... We need to send a message to the Automobile Manufacturers (Even Toyota), that we will not accept... or it would be better stated as; "We the consumer will not spend our money on vehicles that have not made progress toward the 100 MPG mark. We have decided that it is time for the Manufacturers to start protecting their profits by protecting our dwindling natural resources". I hope you make a similar decision and then Blog about it.
Battery technology R&D will be the driver (no pun intended) of the 3rd-gen Prius development. I'm inclined to beleive that the Li-Ion battery will be reality, even if Toyota eats part of the cost in the first year or two.
I beleive that the Li battery will be supplied by A123 Systems (see: a123systems.com) from MA, which has apparently implemented several order-of-magnitude developmental advances to achieve faintly unbelievable power delivery from Li-Ion batteries with less than 10% power loss over 100,000 cycles, and unprecedented safety, all the while driving down cost over today's batteries. It seems too good to be true, and yet it is coming.
So...the 100mpg Prius? It will be an amazing milestone, but I see that as only a bridge to the next technological leap, which should be fuel cells.
amazing , the vapor of one cup of gasoline has the explosive power of about five pounds of dynamite but we can only go 30 miles down the road with 16 times that. I bet with 80 lbs of dynamite I could move a car pretty far. But a dynamite powered car doesnt sound feasible.
The bummer is hybrid plug ins will not be of any use to those people living in apartments pretty much all of the apartments DO NOT have plug in stations and it's because who is gonna pay the bill? people living in condos and houses will buy the plug ins but a larger market share won't because the joe averages out there won't be able to plug in the darn thing.
Prius is a big Fad or I want to seem like I am from 1960 and people who buy it are really large showoffs or people who have large homes who waste large amount of heating and cooling costs in there houses.
The real joke is these cars are way behind in technology. The old Detroit electric cars in 1918 would go 40 miles on a charge and used no gas at all.
They waste money and causing more air smog by causing new cars to be built. Plus all the money in one of these goes straight to a foreign country. Only 1/8 of the money in this car goes back to the USA.
First of all Prius is Very frumpy
Second you can get better millage on many cars close on some SUVs like the Ford escape.
IN Washington DC I see all the Prius owners ride around in the 100 degree heat with the windows open because when the AC is running the car has to be on Engine Only mode no EV. So you get like less than 30 MPG ... Funny how the famous car fails when you have heat.
The correct figures on Prius are like 40 City.
I have friends who own them and they get about that and one of my friends sold it because he was only getting 39 mpg and he sold it for the same price he payed and got a compact that was more comfortable.
Toyota famous lies adds and PR. ITs a terrable company that is out to make profits not save lives. The new toyota including the Tundra Pickup fails the 5 star saftey ratings.
They could achieve 100+ mpg with current battery technology through vehicle weight reductions, better wind aerodynamics, and the use of a small diesel engine instead of gas.
When are the automobile manufacturers ever going to wake up? I'm talking about their blind refusal to start producing hybrid vehicles with plug-in capability. This is not new technology. Nothing new has to be developed. The CalCar group in California has proven the feasibility by converting several Toyota Prius vehicles to obtain plug-in capability. Some of these vehicles are getting in excess of 150 MPG!
I intend to put off purchasing a new hybrid UNTIL plug-in capability is in the showrooms.
Why the delay? Plug-in is the next logical step.
I have been following the Prius and Honda Hybrids since 1999. I deem Toyota's HSD solution to be superior to Honda's IMA. When the waiting lists and demand briefly disappeared and prices briefly dipped at the end of 2006, I purchased a 2007 Prius GEN II at $900 below MSRP.
I just turned 12,000 miles. I am running with up-pressured OEM tires and Full-Synthetic motor oil with a lifetime running MPG-FE of 55.3. My Grand “Anti-Petrol Terrorist” Plan is to roll my 60/55/51 MPG-FE, 2nd Generation 2007 into a “100 MPG,” 3rd Generation Prius when it finally appears. My expectation is that Toyota will offer a Prius GEN III in Model Year 2010.
My personal definition of a 3rd Generation Prius is one sporting a Lithium-Ion Battery Array and delivering at least 80± MPG. Any new Prius without the Lithium-Ion technology and 80± MPG will only be an enhanced 2nd Generation HSD not a 3rd Generation. I will pass on any enhanced GEN II HSD and wait until Toyota finally offers a true GEN III Prius.
Toyota is both surprised and confused with the success of the Prius. It was supposed perhaps to be a "look-goog" thingy, a moderatelly successful toy, to set their place as an "eco-friendly" auto company.
The unexpected success now creaated a new responsibility to follow-up, and this does not seem to ever have been in their plans - that's why a lot of hesitations and false starts.
They'll problably come around - but it will take some time and a few hiccups.
Anyway, Honda does not seem to take their own hybrid too seriously either...
These developments are funny.
I bet this hybrid thing is only meant for the USA, where diesels are almost not heard of..
For example, BMW pulled out a Diesel engine that is 177 HP and 5 liter gasoil/100 Km ( about 46 mpg!...). Now, I'm positive that Americans simply have not yet taken notice of these things, or else there would have been more noise about it - and, of course, American car companies ARE NOT able to produce this technology.
Regardless of the poopie pride that causes them to stay behind in technology (Americans' indulgenge and forgiveness to their gas-guzzling producers is really amazing - that's why they lag behind, nobody in the USA is really pushing them to be competitive, quality-oriented, or environment-aware :-( ). This "American-made" attitude is simply paralyzing - a new attitude like: "American-made is better because it's better, not because it's "American" is what is really needed.
The fact is that both the Prius and the Civic Hybrid are lacklustre compromises and will be soon obsolete. So far, you've seen nothing yet - Mercedes-Benz "DieSotto" technolgy is about to appear and amaze us all with extremelly low consumption - coupled with really useful and hig power.
So far, practical and working (not "blueprints & promises") economy is limited to:
- WEAK gasoline hybrids.
- Great Diesels that Americans don't know how to make.
Soon, Mercedes Bens will free the Diesotto and then matbe this open the American automotive companies' eyes.
Or not, as usual in the past decades.
We'll see.
"weak gasoline hybrids"
Please. Perhaps clean diesel can compete with hybrid technology, but it certainly doesn't provide some great advantage. More important, 1) Diesel hybrids, such as the ones your beloved Mercedes is making, are far more efficient than any diesel vehicle will ever be. 2.) If hybrid battery technology develops, even gasoline hybrids will make the very best diesel vehicles look like gross gas hogs.
The idea that diesel is the solution is simply not grounded in reality. The electrification of the automobile is inevitable and clean diesel is as much of a dinosaur as is gasoline.
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The A123 Lithium Metal batteries are rugged and will not burst into flame. I believe GM is looking into them for the volt. Currently Milwaukee tools uses them in the 2800 mah size and Black and Decker in the 1100 mah size. They use some sort of nano tech on the cathode invented by a professor at MIT. Hopefully we will continue to see innovations like this.
The 2009 Camry Hybrid is in the showrooms since March 2008 - and it does not look that it has anything new in the drive - does it?
I'm looking forward to seeing what Toyota does with the Prius. I also want to see what other car manufacturers will do. BTW, I like the size of the present Prius, and I live in a small city, but like to enjoy the outdoors on the weekends and on my vacations, so what about a hybrid that I can fit my bike into without having to remove the front tire?
Toyota really MUST make the next generation Prius E85 ready.
I don't understand why that hasn't happened already!
I want freedom from oil.
E85 only has 15% gasoline in it and the rest is bio-fuel from renewable and eco-friendly sources.
Hey Toyota, what are you waiting for?
Why so many questions? Why so many of the SAME questions? I want answers! Not questions!
Why so many questions?
Well, for one, when Toyota's President tells Business Week that the Third Generation Hybrid Synergy Drive is ready to move to lithium, and then Toyota corporate states the lithium is not ready just a few weeks later, it's hard to know what to believe.
Ultimately, Toyota is very secretive about its products. I know people that have been to Japan, to the factory where the Third Generation Prius is being tested, but they are not allowed to publish anything related to that visit.
This is very different, for example, than what GM is doing with the Chevy Volt, where EVERYTHING has been made public.
Yep, I agree with the commend above. Consumers are not willing to spend money beyond the purchase price of a vehicle. And if it is not a Toyota, it will be an Aptera ...(http://www.aptera.com/).
why dont you guys pay attention on the air pressure car? they are planning to build this car with 4500 miles range without fueling! Who wants to buy prius if this car hits the road in the USA? ;)
If the third generation Prius is going to make a real leap forward in efficiency then it needs to be a diesel hybrid. There are 4 seat conventional diesels that already are more efficient than the prius with all its gizmos.
not in america. the jetta diesel has been compared to the prius in both chicago and la traffic and the prius was easily the winner. the next generation prius is to be faster and somewhere between 10 and 30 percent more fuel efficient.
that doesn't mean i wouldn't like to see a diesel prius, i would.
plus, since it takes more oil to produce a gallon of diesel versus a gallon of gasoline, isn't a large amount of diesel vehicle efficiency counterbalanced if your goal is to reduce foreign oil dependency?
So Toyota is going to increase the Horse power to increase gas mileage?
1. we need a larger battery for more efficient city driving and coasting on hwy
2. we need larger cargo space or ability to put a fuel efficient topper on the car
3. we need improved gas mileage..ideally ZERO
the long term objective should not be forgotten - that is : ELIMINATE OIL! That's going to keep getting put off if we make the vehicles and especially the engines LARGER.
If I had a choice of
A) 100 miles per gallon at a horse power of 120
vs
B) 60 miles per gallon at a horse power of 160
I would choose the one that has the highest gas mileage!
Toyota is disappointing me with their recent habit of LOWERING the bar.
The lithium plug in was suppose to be out last year and that got delayed.
Now more delays.
Toyota really has not done much with the Prius in the last several years to make any significant impact on improving it. It appears they are maintaining that trend..letting GM have time to catch up with them. I think they are underestimating how fast GM can come up with a 100mpg car.
GM is lobbying the government to reduce fuel economy standards because by 2015 it will only be able to produce less than 200,000 Volts? Is that the speed of GM to which you refer?
Toyota added horsepower, size and better fuel economy. As it did from the first gen prius to the second and now the second to the third. Moreover, there is some indication that the third generation Prius will eventually offer lithium, which could have a dramatic impact on its fuel economy - without the need to plug-in and for a cost under $30,000.
Nonetheless, I'll take a million prii on the roads per year versus tens of thousands of volts per year any day.
Finally, if Toyota were only going to roll out 10,000 third generation prii the first year, they'd probably have no problem using lithium. Unfortunately, consumer demand is expecting several hundred thousand third gen prius hybrids. So, I think it makes sense that Toyota take its time on lithium - they have until 2015 before they really have to worry about GM and lithium.
Oh yeah, and Toyota is rolling out lithium-powered plug-in hybrids in 2010, and I'll bet they produce as many plug-in hybrids as GM produces Volts in the first few years of Volt production.
We have been waiting several years for progress and improvements to occur in the hybrid market. It baffles my mind with all of the circumstances around oil this has not yet occurred as the technology exists. Again we will wait for the third generation model to increase the mpg.
Ok - here's some news from the 2008 London Motor Show, and the nice people at the Toyota stand.
3rd Gen Prius has been seen by the UK dealers - it exists now in some form. It will be released in the UK in Q3 2009, and will have 1.8 litre engine, wider body, and will run on the existing NiMH battery technology.
Nothing we haven't heard before - except the when. It's sooner than expected, and the reason for no official comment yet? They have too many of the existing units in production, and don't want to hurt sales of the existing model.
I'm excited about the 3rd generation and plan on exchanging my 2006 lexus GS 300 for it. I just wish Toyota would make their luxury line more responsibly green.
toyota's luxury hybrids include 3 hybrids already and will include at least one more next year. toyota still has a long way to go, but its doing more about its luxury vehicles, in the terms of the environment, than most other makers.
the newest lexus hybrid, which will probably be based off the third generation prius, sounds very exciting.
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