Posted on 10/10/2008 5:01:04 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
The Toyota Prius, the car favoured by celebrities wanting to flaunt a green conscience, is to become bigger and more sporty, with a larger engine, quicker acceleration and a top speed of well above 100mph. The changes – coming at the expense of fuel economy and carbon emissions – will be incorporated in a new version to be introduced at the Detroit motor show in January.
The decision risks denting the image of the Prius as one of the greenest cars on the road and will be seized upon by critics, who accuse the car’s owners of being smug and joke that the “R” is silent in Prius.
More than a million of the hybrid cars, which have a petrol engine and an electric motor, have been sold since the first version became available in Japan in 1997.
By 2001 the Prius had started to become fashionable among Hollywood stars such as Cameron Diaz and Leonardo DiCaprio. The latter described it as a “great solution for the planet” and once owned four.
More than 28,000 have been sold in Britain, including several in the Government’s fleet of ministerial cars. In London, exemption from the congestion charge is as much of an attraction as the car’s green credentials.
Speaking at the Paris motor show last week, Miguel Fonseca, managing director of Toyota GB, said that the carbon dioxide emissions of the new Prius would be lower than those of the Mark 2, launched in 2003. But the reduction would not be as great as it could have been if Toyota had made environmental performance a priority.
“It will be cleaner, with CO2 emissions below 100gm per kilometre. We could have gone lower but, instead, we have chosen to give the Prius better performance.”
A Toyota source said the engine size would
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
lol
I’ve borrowed one on a few occasions from a relative and they are surprisingly nice. The height makes for good leg room in the back and they can fit more than a sedan. The driving experience is like that of a regular car. Not particularly quick but the electric torque makes them feel reasonably responsive. The control design is really poor though and forces you to take your eyes off the road. But in a few hundred miles of driving I averaged about 49mpg. Would have been nice to have that sort of mileage during this fuel crisis. In NC gas is still over $3.50
Here's your opportunity, US auto industry...
Bring back the Supra.
Try to sell or trade an SUV these days...
I guess most of the people who are in shock about the US economy would have a hard time finding anything they own that is made in the US.
I wonder where the car companies are going to get all the rare earth metals required for the batteries, motors, and even glass used in those newfangled cars?
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