Japanese automotive giant Toyota wants to put fun back into motoring. Naturally, Toyota being Toyota, it plans to add the fun to vehicles in a socially responsible manner, so one of the new fun oriented vehicles will be a hybrid.
Aware that younger people are less interested in cars than they were a decade or two back, Toyota has taken a fresh look at its products and revealed them to the world at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show. We attended the show as guests of Toyota and not only looked over, around and under the new models but also had the opportunity to talk to the engineering brains and styling behind them.
Let’s look at the fun cars first, Toyota is getting back into the sports coupe market with a replacement for the Celica. Originally called the FT-86, this new model is simply called the 86 in some markets and GT-86 in others. At this early stage no decision has been made on its Australian name. It’s been designed in partnership with Subaru as this market segment is relatively small and sharing the expenses will let the Toyota 86 and the Subaru BRZ be retailed at a reasonably level.
We will be spending time driving the new 200 horsepower (147 kW) Toyota coupe at the Mount Fuji racetrack in a couple of days and will report on its on-track performance soon afterwards. Road tests in normal conditions will probably have to wait until the Australian launch of the 86 coupe in mid-2012.
The Toyota Prius C is a compact city car that will be launched in Australia early next year. A Yaris-sized car, the hybrid powerplants are aimed at making it a relatively affordable, fun-to-drive vehicle with very low fuel consumption. Funkiness and frugality look like joining forces in this new Toyota C-car. It certainly has the sort of style that will appeal to the young and the young at heart.
Next comes the Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid, a new model with a high-capacity lithium-ion battery that can be charged from a household outlet. It can operate as an electric vehicle on short trips and as a petrol-electric hybrid vehicle on medium to long trips. A production model is planned for launch in early 2012 with an EV cruising range on fully charged battery of 23.4 km and introduces the next generation of petrol-electric Toyota vehicles.
The latest in a series of Toyota electric concept cars, the FT-EV III is an ultra-compact and lightweight package suitable for short-distance trips. Equipped with a lithium-ion battery, the FT-EV III achieves an estimated cruising range of as much as 105 kilometres on a fully charged battery.
Looking further into the future, Toyota has displayed a concept fuel-cell vehicle (FCV) planned for launch in about four years. With the fuel-cell unit under the body, the Toyota FCV can accommodate up to four passengers and has good luggage space.
Toyota FCV is fuelled by hydrogen, a low CO2 fuel that can be produced from a variety of sources and is easy transport. Toyota says the fuel cell stack, consisting of a high-pressure hydrogen tank, has been improved to provide a cruising distance of approximately 700 km under test conditions.
Finally, the Toyota Fun-Vii is a quirky concept vehicle heralds a future where Toyota says people, their cars and society are all linked.
The plug-in hybrid vehicle represents the technology TMC considers best suited for widespread use to meet CO2 emissions restrictions and the diversification of energy. |
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