newly designed Prius

Any new news on the '09 Prius? Last I heard it was going to be 2010 before these actually hit the streets?

Saw these during a google search. Each link has a different body style. Some of the info is cool though. Unfortunately for us, we have a bit of a wait to hear from Toyota I fear.

2009 Toyota Prius: Spy Report - Popular Mechanics

2009 Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid - First Drive - Tokyo Motor Show - Popular Mechanics

2009 Prius: Not So Fast - Wheels - Autos - New York Times Blog

What's surprising (regarding the next Gen Prius) is how well Toyota has been able to prevent the leaking of ANY details. Not to mention the fact that other than the Hybrid-X concept, Toyota itself has not revealed or leaked anything of substance.

Maybe the news will break at next months New York Auto show.

To be honest, I am NOT looking forward to the gen3. It only means that my 2008 is no longer "new."

lol! ok... you win.

Somehow, I don't believe that "photograph" shows anything other than someone's wild guess. The engine size increasing to 1.8 litres? I don't think so. Not exactly what the owners have been asking for. But then again, making a new generation bigger and faster is allmost a knee-jerk reaction from car designers.

Oh don't get me wrong. I don't believe that one of those pics is the gen3. I was just making the point that it is clear that Toyota has not released images as of 02/2008

Hey! I like my cartoonish 2004 MFD! I have heard, from my dealer, that the next generation Prius has been delayed, and might be released in mutiple model years, as Toyota wants the make it a PHEV, but the battery pricing is still too high... the batterys exist (see A123 systems / HyMotion), they just are not cost effective - yet.

mitch

I don't think the Gen 2 Prius will look outdated - at least compared to the other vehicles out there. But if you feel outdated, you can always get an '09 too.

I really don't think the PHEV is just around the corner. The range (currently) is limited and the cost per kilowatt hour is too high. My guess, and it really is just that, is that the new gen Prius will be a 2010 model released 2009.

According to Motor Trend, Lexus will get its own version of the Prius, a lifestyle wagon like vehicle based on the Prius platform and drive train.

Yet another un-imformed and speculative observation.

Vehicle Profile

Hybrid Special Sale Price !! $21,159.00*

Hmmm? Advertised below Invoice pricing just showed up on new 2008 Prius's. Are sales just slow and is Toyota offering incentives to get the cars moving off the lots - or is Toyota trying to quickly clear out the old Gen II's prior to a Gen III announcement?

Sometimes car dealers advertise low prices, but tack on huge extra cost at the time of sale. I would be surprised of Prius sales were down.

That price does not include $660 for freight. Even so, it's a good deal.

The current Prius has such a futuristic design that I think it'll take a while for it to look outdated. I wish that Toyota will sell the next generation Prius in South Africa as well. The current model didn't sell too well in SA. I think it's got to do with the following:

- It's expensive here. R270 000 = [SIZE=+1]34209.27 U.S. dollars!
[/SIZE]- You can get a lot more car for less money.
- People in SA are still somewhat clueless about what comes out of their cars' tailpipes
- Diesel is proving very popular. People here stare themselves blind against the lower consumption figures, yet Diesel is 40 odd cents more expensive per liter than petrol (gas)
- People don't know what a Prius or even what a hybrid is. Many people here think a 1.1l engine microcar is the ONLY way to get fuel economy and low emissions.

Consequently even the Toyota dealers here that "sell" Prius often don't even have a new one in the showroom. If you're lucky they might have a used one. I bought my Prius as a demo model with 31 000km on the ODO. I wasn't willing to pay the price for a new one. Imported cars are very expensive here and loaded with duties. I think it's very much an attempt to protect the local car building industry. SA is a large exporter of Volkswagen and BMW models. We also build many Toyotas locally.

Use this link to see movie of plug in Prius, probably a real '09. Æ’gƒˆƒ^Ž©“®ŽÔÂFÆ’vƒ‰ƒOÆ’Cƒ“ƒnÆ’CÆ’uÆ’Å Æ’bÆ’hŽÔ
and click on one of the three buttons in the middle of the page.

The body style looks identical to the current gen II?

The same thing happened last year about this time. When I got mine in late April, they had been on special for a while, and there were plenty on the lot to choose from.

If they're going to increase the size of a motor, it should be the electric one. I have noticed that my prius tends to run the battery close to full, and then kick in the ICE more than it would need to with the battery close to full when starting from a light. A larger electric motor could make more use of the regenerated capacity, and not have to spill some of it because the battery was already full. A larger electric motor would also mean greater ability to regenerate, since it would double as a higher capacity generator.