Edmunds' Inside Line on 2010 Prius

Imagine the 2010 Toyota Prius - Inside Line

Is the 100-MPG Prius Just a Year Away?

By Peter Nunn, Contributor Email

Date posted: 05-07-2008
Imagine the 2010 Toyota Prius, a faster, cleaner and greener hybrid. Such a car is coming soon and will launch at the Detroit auto show in January 2009.

Our information suggests that the 2010 Toyota Prius will be everything Americans already love about the hybrid, including its unique styling and crusading eco image, yet it will be delivered in a more high-grade package that's not only smarter but also has a much broader appeal. It'll be a better hybrid for more people.

When the 2010 Toyota Prius arrives, the hybrid revolution will start to get serious.

So this article assumes the Prius will gain an inch around the waist, stretch out 3 inches, and pack more horsepower. Somehow that sounds about right. If they can do that and get better fuel economy, then power to them. But if fuel economy takes a hit, I would not be surprised.

Interesting....anyone heard anything about a Prius-type SUV/crossover?

For what it's worth, and I'm brand spanking new in the Prius world, when I was buying mine the salesman told me that Toyota was thinking of making a Prius line. Similar to Scion. Again this could be worthless scuttlebutt, who knows. Guess we'll see.

Nothing but speculation. We'll likely have to wait until January for Mr Watanabe's disclosures. But....

See TonyPSchaefer's post just above. I'd think that that might bring a hybrid minivan here first along with a smallish Yaris-sized Prius getting very high figures. Then...

The Venza is a perfect platform for the next crossover hybrid. Made on the Highlander platform; new 4c 2.7L engine; made in KY where the TCH is already made.

will be fun to see how long the waiting list gets for this one and when it will start... maybe next month?.... LOL!

Yes there is a Waiting List. Put my $ down for a 2010 Tuesday of this week.

Oh, now thats funny... are you serious?..... I think I want to know a little bit more first.... as long as I didn't have to put money down that would be fine.. but who knows what they will charge and what will be the competition by then...... I guess its a calculated gamble... thats ok.

Actually I read that the "83 mpg" quote for the current Prius (and "94 mpg" for the Gen III) is based on some weird Japanese fuel economy test that doesn't reflect real-world conditions at all. Anyone know about this? They are saying that the 2010 Prius will only get about 10% better fuel economy than the current model (e.g. 48 mpg vs 54 mpg in the real world).

I could maybe see thats true if we were only changing battery types... but if its plugin, that should drastically improve gas mileage for short commuter trips especially.

Even if they didn't go plugin.. I would think a " bigger higher capacity" battery and/or going lithium would also really help mileage.... there is only so much advantage you can get from kinetic storage and payback with a small battery. Going plugin, would solve that problem too as they would have to go bigger on the battery.

Here is a pretty good article about future probabilities.. I"m sure its posted somewhere else too.

Also seems to touch that "magic 100 MPG" mark, assuming G is Imperial/UK/Old Canadian gallons. About 2.8 L /100KM.

So does Toyota engineer their cars specifically to meet the Japanese "benchmarks" ? Mention of something related to that in this thread: http://priuschat.com/forums/fuel-economy/48567-its-oil-level-holmes.html#post635410

Perhaps if we understood the Japanese tests better we might find a co-relation with the "sweet spots".