2015 Toyota Prius Will Be Lighter, More Slippery

2015 Toyota Prius Will Be Lighter, More Slippery

"The fourth-generation Toyota Prius, due around 2015, will be made of lighter materials, with a more slippery shape, and will ride on tires with lower rolling resistance — efforts all aimed at boosting the fuel economy of the world's best-selling hybrid car, a company source tells Inside Line."

sweet! i can't believe i'm looking forward to 2015, when i've spent the last 6 months waiting for my 2012!

It doesn't sound like they have much of a source. Ofcourse rolling resistance will go down, the tire makers are doing that for all cars.

Lighter materials? Doubtful. The lighter materials are magnesium and carbon fiber which are more expensive. What will probably happen is the car will be lighter using the the same aluminum and high strength steel, but in better ways. The Prius c is much lighter and does not use lighter materials. The one area where materials would make it lighter is the battery, but previous rumor had this staying nimh.

Lower cd. The tesla S has a .24, it definitely could happen, but the biggest gains would come from from lower frontal area. I'm not sure if that will happen.

If you always wait to buy the next greatest, you will never buy anything. Glad they are improving.

On my short-list:

• automatic vanes to block excess cooling air
• eliminate or make optional, the induced drag when the foot is taken off the accelerator ... add drag if the speed increases over the foot-off velocity
• adaptive cruise control optional on all models
  • lane keep assist and accident avoidance optional too

These are not radical ideas but they deliver real results.

Bob Wilson

That's why Toyota says "Moving Forward", they always have something going to get us to sustain Pri sales.

I want them to build in Google Self-Drive

Active grill management is likely since it is on the new ford hybrid. I wonder how much it helps and how much extra it costs.

The big thing missing from this article is any talk of engine improvements, which provide the potential for bigger efficiency gains.

There is still plenty of room for improvement in the powertrain, which was not mentioned.

Concur. We're done with leapfrogs in mileage with the Prius. Certain gains are too costly to bother with, so I don't expect to see much better than what it is now. If its size and power stays the same I imagine combined mileage will be 4 mpg better than current gen, maybe less.

They mentioned tire rolling resistance as being an important factor in achieving higher fuel economy. Well, they could just slap a set of Energy Saver A/S tires on the current model and get 2-3mpg better.

thank GOD!

i'm tired of driving my 2010 prius gas guzzler

It sounds like the main change is new tires Which means you may be able to upgrade by changing your tires

Yep, would like shutters too.

As for the latter, yes, that would be really nice. No need to worry about using the go pedal to glide. It's a bit annoying that a bunch of Tesla Model S reviews incorrectly state that there's no regen on Priuses when not on the go pedal. There is, but it's light...

I wanna see hands off adaptive cruise like the ones on the new Cadillacs, pedestrian avoidance like the Volvos, and collision avoidance that actually stops the car before contact.

And a drivers seat that fully reclines to a bed so I can sleep while my car drives me to work.

They could go back to the frontal area of the Gen II, and keep the Cd of 2010. That would be an improvement. But I would like to see something closer to the Urbee, which looks a lot like the Prius but has a Cd of 0.147.

for reduced weight
================
1. carbon fiber hood/bonnet.
2. light alloy wheel rims
3. carbon fiber suspension springs
4. swap NiMH for smaller lightweight Li-Polymer
5. Use lighter electric motors
6. eliminate center console/handrest
7. swappable carbon fiber door panels which can be customizable by third party venders (to trick out your Prius)
8. Removable rear seats.
9. use lighter steel components.

for aerodynamics
================
1. rear wheel skirts
2. temperature controlled air intake vanes
3. Shark fin Radio antenna
4. shave 10% off frontal area surface
by making the Prius thinner.
5. replace sideview mirror with
adjustable side cameras which
display on a HUD alongside rear
view camera display.

for less rolling resistance
============================
1. use Michelin A/S Energy Savers or Bridgestone Ecopedia tires
2. introduce a 3-wheel version of the Prius


for drivetrain
===============
1. Increase thermodynamic efficacy of the ICE (e.g. by introducing better engine compartment insulation, engine block heater, reintroduce the CHS system but put the CHS thermos next to the catalytic converter to help keep it warm a bit longer)

2. Have a *glide* light that goes on when when both the electric motor and the ICE are off but the speedometer > 0mph. This would assist drivers without a scangaugeII on how to do a P&G cycle.

3. Have a traffic jam driving mode which minumally uses the electric motors only under 3 mph then turns off the electric motors and starts up the ICE at 0.6 gph to 0.8 gph (1000 to 1200 rpm) for a top speed of 20 mph. This mode would extend the HV battery power when the Prius is in extended traffic jams last longer than 10 minutes. Start stop tech turns off ICE when not used.

for the hypermilers
=================
1. a place on the dashboard for a scanguageII mounting
or
2. ICE (RPM ,GPH, Coolant temperature) gauges,
3. digital iMPG and HV battery SoC gauges
4. Electric Motor Power (kwh) usage/recharging display

Nice picture of a Davis. The single wheel works better in the back than the front for stability and aerodynamics,