2019 Toyota Prius Coming to LA With AWD

This is, not just an educated guess, as the 2019 Prius is said to be "ready for sunshine or snow" and "performs on roads whether snowy or clear."

You can buy plenty of hybrids with AWD these days, but not the Prius, which has hurt Toyota's sales in the so-called "snow belt." But even though the technology is making its way to the 2019 Prius, it's been available in Japan for a few years.

As some of you may recall, we reported on the so-called e-Four system in Japan back in October 2015. Since it snows a lot over there, most normal cars are available with AWD, even things like the Mazda3 and Suzuki Swift. But Toyota wanted a greener setup and was among the first to install an electric rear axle system.

Usually, AWD systems have a shaft transferring power to the rear wheels, but it adds at least 100 lbs of extra weight. Toyota's solution is a small electric motor. This provides extra traction to help the Prius cope with low grip conditions at slow speeds, such as leaving a snow-covered driveway in the morning. It can also work a little bit like torque vectoring.

To keep weight down, Toyota mounted as many components as it could to the case of the e-Four system. However, the trunk has had to be lifted a little bit. You can check out a video of how it all ties together down below.

The 2019 Prius will undoubtedly keep its 1.8-liter engine, but there's no way to guarantee the Japanese configuration is the one being offered in America. Still, it's better than conventional AWD, at least for hybrids.