On September 8 in Las Vegas, NV, Toyota is at last giving the fourth-generation Prius its grand debut. This will be the hybrid’s first complete revison since 2009. However, Automotive News have stated that there has been no news yet as to when production may start.
Even though Toyota have not disclosed any information about the new hybrid yet, spy shots are already giving us an indication as to what we might be seeing. The shape of the exterior is more stratched than that of the current model and has a silhouette similar to the newest Chevrolet Volt. Many changes have also been made to the interior such as the gearshift now being located far lower on the dashboard and there also being a new infotainment screen.
Below the vehicle’s new body, the fourth-generation Prius makes changes towards Toyota’s new TGNA platform. The underpinning is lighter and more rigid which could allow the hybrid to do 57.5 miles per gallon. Production costs are also lowered because of more shared parts.
Other versions of the new model are obviously also planned. There are rumors that there may be two versions. One with a lithium-ion unit and therefore being more economical and one with a nickel-metal hydride battery. There is also speculation that the next-gen Prius Plug-in may offer 35 miles of fully electric driving range.
Due to falling green-car sales in the US, the newest Prius is released at a rather difficult time. Throughout July the entire hybrid’s range is down more that 15 percent so the new vehicle certainly has a lot to prove. The performance of the car will tell us if the one-time icon is still imortant or not.
