I really like the sounds of this - built off the C30 model, in Camarillo, where my uncle lives. I guess that part really isn't relevant. Anyway, it's sort of exactly what I'd figure I wanted the next Prius to be before I'd upgrade. It's supposed to have something like a 60 mile range on batteries, with a 1.6 liter engine that is only used when the batteries get low. The actual mileage the engine can get is supposedly 45mpg, but I'm skeptical if it can get that at (or even get to) reasonable speeds. They say a full charge will take three hours. Man, if only it could tow =P Can't what to see what we actually get - I hope it's soon, seeing as they built it off an existing model.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(geologyrox @ Sep 6 2007, 02:24 PM) [snapback]508135[/snapback]</div> I agree, this car would be just right to replace my Prius in a couple years. I drive about 50 miles/day during the week and on the weekends sometimes more sometimes less. If I had a car with the specs on this one the ICE would probably fire up about once every 2 weeks. That would be AWESOME!
I had not heard of it, but a 60-mile PHEV capable of driving on the freeway (I presume a Volvo would be) would do it for me. I'd buy one the day it hit the car lot if the price is under $50K. On the other hand, these days every home-basement mechanic has a car concept promised for sale next year. Come on folks! My money's burning a hole in my pocket. Bring me the car and I'll buy it.
read in swedish papers that planned date is 2015.... not kidding... :-( no relevance to reality & by theb will not be impressive!
Well, this car is going to be shown at the carshow in Frankfurt, Germany this week. Volvo says the prototype is "working the way we want it to". But, as said earlier, production is not to be expected until 2010. The car is a etanol/electric hybrid with one separate electric motor for each wheel. It makes the 0-60 mph sprint in 9 seconds and topspeed is 100 mph. To be honest, i cant really see why this is such big news. Toyota made the best electric car ever built 10 years ago when they did the Rav4 ev. I find it hard to believe they haven´t been developing this concept. If Toyota wanted to, they could pick parts from the shelfes and make a better car now! The only reason that we don´t have these cars already is because no car manufacturer wants to make a car that needs an absolute minimum of service. And the oilcompanies that works in close contact with the car manufacturers definately don´t want these cars to hit the streets..... But, as said before, i am confident that Toyota is far ahead in development and when one car manufacturer says "we are putting this car into production" i can see at least 5 other manufacturers showing cars ready for production. And that is what really is the good news!! I will be first in line to buy one....
nice looking car! some ideas/suggestions here; why doesn't toyota produce a prius version (say package #7) with bigger battery pack? I'd pay extra 3K if the battery would improve my MPgs to say 65 - 70 MPG and increase my electric-only mode. Why not make it plug in hybrid like this volvo? why not redesign prius to use wheel hub motors? first 2 options are pretty easy to implement and demand is really high! c-mon Toyota!
It's widely believed that the next major model revision (possibly 2010 model year, possibly later if they cannot work out the details in time) will have more battery capacity and be plug-in. A likely reason for not using wheel-hub motors is that the HSD system integrates the motors with the engine in a truly elegant and efficient manner. Personally, I'm a fan of the series-hybrid concept, which lends itself very well to plug-in and to wheel motors. But wheel motors would not be compatible with Toyota's present (HSD) hybrid design.
