Prius Minivan To Debut in March 2011, Named "Prius Alpha"

Agreed about the bloat. I used to drive a 93 Dodge Caravan. Per 1993 Dodge Caravan Exterior - MSN Autos the non-extended length versions (aka non-Grand) were 178.1 inches long. Those specs sound correct compared to others I've seen before.

IIRC, when my parents parked it inside the garage, they were surprised how much shorter it was in the vs. our ~190 inch long 86 Olds Cutlass Ciera.

We had the optional 3rd row seat so it seated 7 prety comfortably. Admittedly, there wasn't that much cargo room behind 3rd row. The Grand (extended length versions) solved that.

Now, Chrysler doesn't even sell non-stretched versions of their minivans anymore (at least not to consumers). A quick look at specs shows the Town & Country/Grand Caravan, Odyssey and Sienna are all 200+ inches long!

 

This is one of those cases where a photo/sketch of the exterior without a reference vehicle may not be doing justice. Those of us with 2010 Prius can easily forget how much space we have inside and the extra 12 inches of length and even 1 inch of width would make it significantly larger. Sad to say, the artist sketch doesn't show how the interior seats and space would be arranged.

One of the car magazines uses a luggage bag and two bags of groceries to show the usable space in a car and that is really how the Alpha should be introduced. For example, when we were looking at the Insight vs ZVW30:

You can quickly tell that the ZVW30 is substantially larger, roomier and the flat-bottom makes the Prius space much more owner friendly. This is how the Alpha should be introduced.

The angle of the magazine article may not be doing justice to the actual height at the rear and the vehicle profile. For example, here is the Venza and Provoq in profile scaled so their lengths are to scale:

But from the magazine angle showing the Alpha, both of these cars would likely appear more tapered than they might actually be.

So what we need will be to fill out the table:

	Column 1	Column 2	Column 3	Column 4
0	field	ZVW30	Alpha	Venza
1	length	175.6	187.6	189
2	width	68.7	69.7	75
3	. . .

Edmunds specification source.

I agree with Boo that the Alpha is much larger than we may think. In fact, the Alpha begins to approach cross-over SUV dimensions. But a sliding door sure would be nice for dealing with parking space loading and unloading.

Bob Wilson

 

Will there there be a cargo option
It would great for work van

 

I disagree. To me the Prius is about efficiency and low emissions.

A Prius is a mid-size with room for 5.
- No good if your family is bigger than 5.
- Excessive if you are a couple without children
- Excessive if you are single

So to me it fits to build additional Priuses to fit those niches.
- van
- subcompact.
- ultracompact

 

That must be the ugliest thing i've seen in a while (IMHO) - hope it is equipped and stocked.......

Maybe the pic doesn't do it justice - but the Pontiac Aztec comes screaming at me...

Is something lost in translation??? I have the 2010 Prius (small) - but this looks Pontiac crazy...

EDIT: The pic on the Priuschat website is what I am basing my opinions on - not the ones above...

 

I wish Toyota had kept the "Prius" line unique for hatch only and focus on hybridizing existing minivans instead.

One candidate that fits nicely is the 1.8l Wish minivan. Extremely popular in Asia and runs head-to-head against Honda Stream and Mazda5. Just over 9ft of wheel-base and 2nd/3rd rows seats are foldable as standard. Its looks definitely more Alpha-male-ish.

 

I agree that the Prius is about fuel afficiency, however, the Prius mini-van will not be as efficient due to the bigger size, will it? Why not do a hybrid version of the Sienna?

I wouldn't want two, three, etc types of car bearing the Prius name. To me Prius is my hatch back and that is the way I would love to keep it.

Exactly my opinion.


Luis

 

I bet Prius Alpha will be more fuel efficient than a non-hybrid mini-van converted to a hybrid.

 

The Prius Alpha is a good idea but actually really bad car.

FAIL Power: Same weak engine as a Prius? You can't do this and expect good results.

FAIL Size: Only 12 inches longer and 1" wider than a Prius?? They call this a minivan?!? The Prius is one of the narrowest cars on the road. And 1-2 extra seats? WOW! This will be ok for Japan, since the minivans and trucks there are really small and cute, but I doubt this car will make it to the U.S.

Just to put things in perspective, a Chevy Equinox now gets 35mpg.


EDIT: This car really makes me angry LOL. Toyota should be focusing elsewhere, like on their service, customer loyalty, or bringing back the Supra or Celica. They HAVE to realize this...

 

Chevy Equinox gets 26 MPG combined. Prius Alpha's expected 40 MPG is also the combined number.

I would be interested how PA's dimension is compared to the first Sienna.

 

The car should not make you angry. Its just a car.

It looks like a small wagon. It is what it is. I'm sure this is just another blip of toyota marketing bringing a bland high mpg car.

 

Prius Alpha

Length: 193.7 in
Width: 68.7 in
Height: 58.7 in
Wheelbase: 107.1 in

1998-2000 Sienna

Length: 190.5 in
Width: 73.4 in
Height: 67.3 in
Wheelbase: 114.2 in

Prius Alpha is longer than the original Sienna (about the same as 2001-2003 Sienna). The wheelbase is about 7 inches shorter, 9 inches lower in height and about 5 inches narrower.

P.S: Danny's OP said it PA is wider by about an inch over the Prius. MotorTrend article said 20mm (about an inch) increase in the wheelbase.

 

I'm surprised by all the negative comments given the rabid desire by many to have a hybrid minivan. Also, there's been rumors floating for years that there would be an extension of the Prius name, not just simply hybrid versions of existing vehicles, so this shouldn't surprise anybody.

To me, a vehicle in the Prius family would state that this was designed from the ground up to be a hybrid, not squeezing a hybrid drive train into an existing design (case in point - the trunk of the Camry hybrid). I think a Prius-based minivan will sell really well. A foot longer will allow the roof to go higher, it will feel much more roomy inside. Since some people are already complaining it will be too small and others complaining it will be too big, they probably found a good middle point (?)


MacMaster, I don't see the connection between focusing on customer service and designing new cars. These are different branches of the company, different employees, different locations. You can't disrupt the chain of new vehicle designs coming to market or you might as well close up shop. As for the Supra and Celica, I can't really comment. Never owned either or really desired to, but obviously an entirely different market segment.

 

Exactly, that's what used to make Toyota so great, at the top of the automakers. They had something for everyone.

All I'm saying is they've lost something in the last few years...

 

This is not a minivan because it does not have the characteristics of a minivan: seats for 7, sliding doors, removable or fold away seats, width between rear wheel wells to fit a 48' width plywood.

From the pictures, it should be call a crossover or a extended wheelbase Prius in my opinion.

If it is the size of a minivan, the weight likely ~4000lb and will not make it more than 34mpg combine with the 2.4l HSD from the Camry Hybrid. The 1.8l is two weak for a minivan.

 

This car is a lot bigger (+30cm) than my own car and that is allready big enough. I know that Americans are used to BIG cars, but i thought that being used to the wonderfull Prius you would know that outside length is not the main thing.
In a topic a few weeks ago ( http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-h...2011-lithium-ion-batteries-4.html#post1110517 ) i wrote:

 

Some of us have been waiting a very long time for the hybrid minivan . . . 2005-06 if I remember when I first wrote to Toyota and got a nice "not yet." But I could see the Estima hybrid minivan and couldn't understand what it took to get one over here. When I looked at self-importing, the numbers went North of $50,000 and as much as I wanted one, that was too steep. When you've been waiting in line for a long, long time, there is a tendency to 'grumble'. It doesn't mean we're ready to leave the line but our expectations have been 'honed' to the edge.

Bob Wilson

 

Nice analysis and pictoral comparo, Bob. I've been saying for a while that I'd love a hybrid Venza because I really like the styling and it's a 5 door hatch. The 2.7L+HSD would be all the power it needs and more.

It would seem from your comparo that the new Alpha is much the same length as the Venza but narrower.

 

Careful with broad statements of advertising hype. The Equinox only gets 32 mpg on the highway. Combined it's far less than that @ 26 mpg Combined. This vehicle is likely to get 40-ish mpg Combined. Side-by-Side Comparison

The demand for a Supra/Celica replacement has no validity as a business model. After the 12 buyers that want these vehicles buy them ... then what? They killed the Supra because of lack of sales; they killed the Celica because of lack of sales ( replaced by cheaper tC which is also in decline ); they killed the Solara because of lack of sales ( Venza is doubling the Solara volumes ). See a trend here? You'll have to wait for the hybrid sportscar ( maybe ).

I agree though that in NA the 1.8L + HSD will not excite anyone because of the added weight of the larger vehicle. It'll be efficient but it won't get the blood racing.

 

Bob is quite correct. I've also been waiting for a hybrid Mini-Van. NOT a crossover, or tall station wagon but a Mini_Van, just like the Estima. A Mini_Van you can use to haul 7 people around with a little room for luggage, something you can take the seats out and is tall enought to put your snow blower in when you got to take it someplace to get fixed, something you can use when you got to move. (My kids used our Chevy Venture to move our whole house last time we moved, it took a zillion trips but they did it, even moved a pianio with it.) You can't do things like that with a crossover.