I don't think Li-Ion technology is where it needs to be for Toyota to adopt it yet. Toyota isn't going to put something in the Prius that is not 100% reliable. Most people still see hybrids as a new and untested technology (we all know different ), so putting new batteries in that might have to be recalled later is not something Toyota wants to deal with -- especially if they are taking all of their models to a hybrid platform.

Toyota is in a very good position from a pure business perspective. They have a product which is selling very well in the marketplace with little competition. There is absolutely no incentive for them to produce a replacement vehicle for the current Prius until sales start to fall off. They appear to be taking advantage of the time to resolve issues with the next version of their hybrid vehicle. At the moment, the biggest issue facing Toyota (and everybody else) is developing an energy storage source (battery) that is very reliable and will not self-destruct.

Keith :unsure:

Is it too soon to put a deposit down on an '09 and get on a waiting list??

Brad


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Jun 15 2007, 03:01 AM) [snapback]462158[/snapback]</div>

Well, if it's to be the "2009 model", and it comes out in Spring '09, then it's delayed, regardless of the semantic games that Toyota wants to play. New car models almost exclusively come out in the 4th quarter of the year prior to their model year.

That said, I don't think it really makes much difference one way or the other.

hmmmmmmm i like this news..... cuz by spring of '09 i'll be able to justify trading up!

You gotta love how the industry focuses on the delay without a single mention of how all this advanced technology will result in 94 mpg new vehicle... nothing any auto manufacturer has out now or will have by then will even come close. But it's the delay that's important, right?

I had planned to upgrade my 2004 at that time, but I guess I'll just have to wait until Spring 2009. Seems like a long time away, but that's only about a year and nine months from now...

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Swampthing @ Jun 19 2007, 07:09 AM) [snapback]464591[/snapback]</div>

That's 94 mpg by the Japanese numbers, which make the old EPA numbers seem conservative. The number I've heard bandied about is around 63 MPG, but I'm not sure how it was derived.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tripp @ Jun 19 2007, 10:05 PM) [snapback]465000[/snapback]</div>

Um no... Toyota is targeting 113 Japanese mpg which equates to about 94 US MPG. Sounds like your 63 mpg is either coming from the folks at Google who get 39 mpg with the current model or coming from sources tied to GM and the oil industry...

Source: http://www.autobloggreen.com/2006/12/11/ne...ry-and-113-mpg/

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Marlin @ Jun 16 2007, 05:01 PM) [snapback]462995[/snapback]</div>

Only in the USA. The normal parts of the world don't have "model years".

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(KMO @ Jun 20 2007, 07:46 AM) [snapback]465120[/snapback]</div>

Oh, really? <_< And just what do they have in jolly old England and other "normal parts of the world" eh?

They just introduce new car versions any time they feel like it.

In the UK no-one talks about a "2004 model year Prius". If someone does refer to a 2004 Prius, they probably mean it was registered in the calendar year 2004. Alternatively, they could mean the Prius model introduced in the calendar year 2004 (which it was - we had to wait a few months longer than the USA), although they'd be more likely to refer to it as the Prius Mark II, or the new Prius. That's what Toyota's brochures said at the top in 2004/2005 - "New Prius".

Used cars here are usually identified by their registration mark, eg "W-reg" or "54-reg"; the number plate incorporates a date code which currently changes twice a year. This change is not aligned with model changes.

And minor cosmetic changes purely to distinguish "model years" is a phenomenon pretty exclusive to American manufacturers. Here models may get occasional minor facelifts, but not usually as often as yearly, and at no particular time of year.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(KMO @ Jun 20 2007, 10:54 AM) [snapback]465199[/snapback]</div>

So Toyota's waiting until the first quarter of 2009 to introduce the 2009 model would not be considered unusual in any part of the world other than the US, where the next year models are generally introduced in the fall of the previous year. Although this does not seem to be always the case anymore..even in the US, new models may be introduced "any time they feel like it" especially when it is a brand new model vs. update of an existing one. They are usually branded as next year's model even if introduced well before the fall. The Dodge Neon, for example, went on sale in early 1994 but they called them "1995" models.


As far as "minor cosmetic changes purely to distinguish 'model years', on a yearly basis, being exclusive to American manufacturers--well that has not been true for at least 25-30 years now. Annual styling changes went out the window in the late '70's, which is probably around the time that replacing your car with a new one every year--or even every other year--got to be too expensive for many people. They called it "planned obsolescence" back then and VW got a lot of use out of it in their marketing campaign for the Beetle in the '60s and '70s, bragging about how they never changed the appearance of their car just for the sake of change.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Jun 21 2007, 03:21 AM) [snapback]465546[/snapback]</div>

Er, which "model years"? We might say a car was a "2004 Prius" if it was bought in 2004, just like anything else we bought in 2004. Nothing to do with cars is at any fixed point in the year, except our registration marks which currently change in March and September.

It's the registration mark that usually determines the value threshold for used cars, as it's clearly visible.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Swampthing @ Jun 19 2007, 09:09 AM) [snapback]464591[/snapback]</div>

I wouldn't count on this, I think you may end up disappointed. The 90-100 mpg figure has been bandied around by several press sources and it appears to me to be just the speculations of those writers. Note that nothing ( not a word ) has come from Toyota.

I'd say a 20% increase in average fuel economy going from 48-50 mpg on average to 58-62 mpg average is more realistic. To expect otherwise is to dream I fear.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(KMO @ Jun 21 2007, 01:14 PM) [snapback]465643[/snapback]</div>

well, in austria (and germany) there are two generations of the prius.
- the first generation from 2000 to 2003 and
- the current one; it started in 2004 and the facelifted version is available since spring 2006.

its kinda funny when you open the toyota.com page and find the "new 2008 highlander" in 2007.
my car-dealer told me that the cars sell better in the us when they call them by their model-year: "the all new 2007 prius!" although there is absolutely no difference to the 2006 one--- :mellow:

probably they´d sell more prius in europe by using the same strategy...

kr,
wogue

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DeadPhish @ Jun 21 2007, 07:29 AM) [snapback]465647[/snapback]</div>

Well here's the article quote: "According to the magazine, Toyota engineers are targeting a mileage rating of 113 mpg, with improved 0-60 mph acceleration of less than 10 seconds." That sounds like word from Toyota to me.... unless of course you don't want to believe the magazine, or the news, or the internet, etc, etc... :blink: :wacko:

I thought I remember reading somewhere a while back that the next-gen prius was going to get 94mpg U.S. the article said that the car was something like 113mpg in other areas.