Photo: Mark Hawthorne
Hybrids’ worst enemy? That would be weight. In fact, weight is somehow a necessary evil - it’s hard for the electric motor to beat the vehicle’s inertia to move it and drains the battery faster, but after you get it going it’s the same inertia that will make the car brake slowly and put back some of the lost electricity in the batteries via the regenerative braking.
However, enough with the physics for now. The Toyota Prius is the most known and most efficient hybrid out there, excluding the electric vehicles with thermal engine range extender.
In fact, the Prius nameplate got so popular that the automaker decided to develop two more models - the Prius v compact minivan and the Prius c (Aqua) compact hatch. The latter is also the most fuel efficient, scoring 53 mpg city and 46 mpg highway, making it one of the best city cars around if you are concerned about consumption and CO2 emissions.
But then, how do you convince young buyers to buy such a car if it doesn’t come with “SWAG” or whatever teens name cool stuff now? Give them a three-door version hybrid, just like Honda did with the CR-Z model.
And this rendering here shows how such Toyota Prius 2-door could look if the automaker decides to build. This one is actually based on the Prius Liftback, but my opinion is that it could use a lot from the Prius c.
Chopping the Prius c into a two-door sport compact could save around 100 kg, leading to a total vehicle weight of about 1,000 kg. Add the 1.8 Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder hybrid powertrain making 138 hp and the little car will go like stink.
Image courtesy of Mark Hawthorne via photobucket
In fact, the Prius nameplate got so popular that the automaker decided to develop two more models - the Prius v compact minivan and the Prius c (Aqua) compact hatch. The latter is also the most fuel efficient, scoring 53 mpg city and 46 mpg highway, making it one of the best city cars around if you are concerned about consumption and CO2 emissions.
But then, how do you convince young buyers to buy such a car if it doesn’t come with “SWAG” or whatever teens name cool stuff now? Give them a three-door version hybrid, just like Honda did with the CR-Z model.
And this rendering here shows how such Toyota Prius 2-door could look if the automaker decides to build. This one is actually based on the Prius Liftback, but my opinion is that it could use a lot from the Prius c.
Chopping the Prius c into a two-door sport compact could save around 100 kg, leading to a total vehicle weight of about 1,000 kg. Add the 1.8 Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder hybrid powertrain making 138 hp and the little car will go like stink.
Image courtesy of Mark Hawthorne via photobucket
Google News