Meet the 2010 Prius in Edmonton! With pics.

First and foremost, thankyou Toyota Canada for bringing the "2010 Prius Prototype" to Edmonton. Our auto show has been largely ignored in the past, even though there is a LOT of money here itching to be spent!

Thankyou Toyota Canada for inviting me (and others), and thankyou for the "continental breakfast" and the water bottle (swag). Thankyou to the engineers at the show for letting me take the car apart (with the promise I would put it back together again as I found it). Finally, thankyou for the complimentary ticket to the show! $12 saved!

Oh, and thanks to Northlands (a City of Edmonton group of money grubbers) for being incompetent, thereby not having gatekeepers at 7:30 AM, and saving me from paying the ripoff parking price of $12!!!

Yup, most attendees paid $24 to look at cars they could see in showrooms! As I said, we have WAY too much money here!

On to the car!

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Stone resistant, but it could tear. Also, probably illegal to drive using the "force" to navigate.

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This "prototype" (in large letters on the windshield) had 15" wheels, with covers. The engineer told us it was part of the treatment to improve airflow disrupted by the wheel openings, along with the sharp lines just behind the front bumper cover and just ahead of the rear bumper cover. I pulled off a wheel cover and revealed a complex aluminum wheel, nice looking but a nightmare to clean. Anything for aero!!

Note that a few of the engineers eyed me suspiciously when I began dismantling their baby, but appeared releaved when I reassembled it correctly with no damage, so left me to my fun. Once the "meet the 2010 Prius" was over, barricades were erected and the car was turned off and locked. I looked in about an hour after the "great unwashed public" arrived, and the car was basically being ignored. Peasants!

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The spoiler has grown. Also explained as part of the aero treatment required because the highest point of the car moved back a bit.

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This car will also need protective mesh just as Pearl did.

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It's about the same physical size as the current one, just located further forward.

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It's certainly an interesting looking engine.

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Two oil grades were indicated, 0W20 and 5W20. The comments were that it might be hard to find 0W20, but I've seen it for several years already.

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Looks to be the same 12V battery. The plastic panels were thiner than the ones in Pearl, and didn't fit as well. Perhaps that will be improved in the final car. Note the brake booster cap. is moved. I didn't see it anywhere.

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I don't examine my cars' battery very often, but this one looks a bit different. Particularly the emergency shutoff switch.

The car was upset, possibly because the aux. battery was disconnected and it was powered by a power supply (which the inverter couldn't charge - it was whining). I think the car was in "ign. on" to power up -most- of the dash. The "hybrid battery warning" icon was displayed.
This was not a fully equipped car, as it didn't have nav. though it did have the sunroof and solar panel (two separate pieces they bundle together). It also didn't have seat heat. They said it had SKS ("SKS? You mean smart key?"). It didn't have the black buttons on the door handles. They told me it would lock automatically when you walked away from it. I'm not sure it would.

Under the spare tire (not shown in the pics) was a bunch of lead "candybars" (balancing weight?). When they say it's a prototype they mean it!

Oil changes might be tricky. I looked for the oil pan but it appeared to be covered by the undertray, which is much more complete than the current car.

The steering wheel is adjustable fore-aft and up-down. This enabled one friend to conclude he would fit in the car. Another friend thought the side to side legroom was a little too tight. I thought it was ok. The seat is indeed height adjustable, as the lever moves the rear of the seat up and down (you have to "pump" it both ways).

All in all a nice enhancement to the current piece. Very similar in design and layout, especially in the body.

No Toyota person knew what the option packages would be, nor how much the car would cost. They didn't even know when it would arrive in Canada.

 

The three of us also stayed for a few hours to look at the "gas guzzlers" (the other cars being shown). The Insight (Hindsight) was interesting. Smaller, poorer mileage, and not much less expensive, though of course we don't have the new Prius price yet, but not much different in price from the 2009 (in Canada).

They had the new "small" hybrid Lexus there, also surrounded by TWO!!! rings of barricades. The nice lady there handed me a bag with "information about the cars, including some on it". When I started asking detailed questions, the answer was "no, there's nothing on that car in the stuff in the bag".

But she did know it wouldn't be available until September! It had BIG wheels and lots of "options". Those who want a luxurious Prius should look at it.

They had a Bentley display, also roped off. They were "escorting" people in to see the cars in small groups.

There was an electric Mitsubishi right hand drive car on a pedestal. It was hard to look inside it. I think it was a "see, we're hard at work trying to improve our environmental responsibility" but not for sale car. Meanwhile the rally car was drawing crowds.

Most of the "dead car makers" were in the newest hall, including Hummer, GM, and Saturn. Curiously BMW was in there with them. I hope they didn't mind the smell of dead companies.

Nissan had the Skyline there, roped off, of course. It's big! And expensive!

There was a Lambo Countach. About every 10 min they started up the big V12 and reved it for the crowd. I bet they used more fuel than I burned the next day in the four hours I worked on the "Hypothermic half marathon".

The new Kia "Soul" was there. Nice roomy small "crossover". Not bad mileage.

As we left I was happy that I didn't have to pay to attend. It would have been a very big waste of money! Except for the 2010 Prius of course.