Page 23 - ATODAY

TECHNOLOGY A23
Wednesday 14 October

Toyota promises better mileage and ride with Prius hybrid

YURI KAGEYAMA

AP Business Writer

TOKYO (AP) — Toyota Mo-

tor Corp. released details

for its fourth-generation

Prius on Tuesday, promising

that improvements in the

battery, engine, wind re-

sistance and weight mean

better mileage for the

world’s top-selling hybrid

car.

It gets up to 40 kilometers a

liter under Japanese tests,

which translates to more

than 93 miles per gallon, a

20 percent improvement

from the 2015 model. In the

U.S., it gets 55 mpg in com-

bined city and highway

driving, about 10 percent

better.

The Prius, which debuted in

1997, goes on sale in Japan

in December, and rolls out

in the U.S. and other mar-

kets early next year. A price

was not announced, but

it’s expected to stay in the

same range. The Prius now In this Sept. 8, 2015 file photo, the latest version of the Prius is displayed by Toyota at an event in Las Vegas.

starts at about $24,000 in Associated Press

the U.S. and 2.4 million yen smaller yet have 28 per- with traffic lights at street sales in recent years,” said accounting for 8 million of
cent better performance. corners. The 2016 Prius was Karl Brauer, senior analyst the 9 million such vehicles
($20,000) in Japan. The battery, which had shown at the Las Vegas for Kelley Blue Book. on the streets worldwide.
been in the back luggage auto show last month, but “The new Prius has some Whether Prius can continue
A hybrid switches back area, now fits under the the Japanese automaker interesting design features to excite consumers would
back seat, meaning more didn’t release details then. but mostly stays true to be its test.
and forth between a gaso- luggage space. Toyota has sold about 4 mil- the same formula Toyota Yoshiaki Kawano, manager
“We started from scratch, lion Prius vehicles globally, has been using since it at HIS Automotive in Tokyo,
line engine and an electric looking at all the possibili- but its popularity is mostly launched. It should hold believes Prius will continue
ties” for improvement, chief limited to the U.S. and Ja- steady in terms of sales be- to be popular. The chal-
motor to deliver a super-ef- engineer Koji Toyoshima pan. The recent drop in oil cause the Prius has a strong lenge from other hybrid
told reporters at a Tokyo prices also works as a mi- fan base, but convincing models will help keep the
ficient drive, but is increas- showroom. nus. non-hybrid shoppers to overall hybrid option popu-
Toyota also made a point “The Toyota Prius is the give it a try will be even lar, and the challenge from
ingly being challenged by to deliver a smoother feel most successful hybrid on more difficult than in the electric cars and fuel cells
in driving, including four- the planet, but its success past,” he said. will be limited for some time
even more futuristic tech- wheel drive, as well as just- hasn’t expanded to other The success of the hybrid because of the need for in-
developed safety technol- hybrids, and even the Prius is critical for Toyota, which frastructure such as charg-
nologies, such as the purely ogy, including connecting has struggled to maintain leads in that technology, ing stations, he said.q

electric car and the fuel

cell, which are both zero

emissions.

Toyota officials said the ef-

ficiency of the Prius engine

was beefed up 40 percent

with reduced friction and

improved combustion,

while newly developed

batteries are 10 percent