Toyota Prius 2009 News

Is it really worth buying a hybrid and why safety is catching on among car buyers.Plus our resident car reviewer Paul Maric has been behind the wheel of the new third generation Toyota Prius this week.For all this and more, listen to the podcast above...

Two years ago I walked more than 20 kilometres in two days to cover every single brand and car at the Frankfurt Motor Show, from the towering five-story Mercedes-Benz pavilion to the tiny space reserv

Green cars have scored maximum ratings in the latest European crash tests. The Euro NCAP gave seven out of the eight cars tested a full five stars, including the petrol-electric hybrid Honda Insight and Toyota Prius 3. The latest results show that good fuel economy need not stand in the way of a high level of safety performance.Euro NCAP also commended these hybrid vehicles for their pedestrian scores that not only fulfil Euro NCAP's current five star requirements, but already meet the organisation's challenging 2012 targets.Pedestrian protection has not been a big priority for carmakers. Last year only 25 per cent of the cars tested by NCAP achieved more than two stars for pedestrian protection.However with the introduction of a new regulation in Europe this year that is changing, according to Euro NCAP secretary general Michiel van Ratingen. "The technology and know-how is out there for carmakers to deliver vehicles with better pedestrian protection," he said. "Honda and Toyota are giving us a glimpse of the cars of the future that consider the natural and social environment in its entirety."Euro NCAP’s top scorers with five star results are the Honda Insight, Kia Sorento, Renault Grand Scenic, Skoda Yeti (compact off-roader arriving her in mid-2010), Subaru Legacy (called Liberty in Australia), Toyota Prius 3 and the Volkswagen Polo. The Citroen C3 scored four stars because electronic stability control is only available on some variants in the model range in Europe.The two French cars - Grand Scenic and the C3 have also introduced a driver-controlled speed limitation system as standard on some variants and as an option on others. These systems assist the driver to maintain the safest speed according to the driving environment.Some manufacturers have responded quickly to Euro NCAPs call for better whiplash protection. Insight, Sorento and Yeti have seats and head restraints that offer good whiplash protection. In contrast, the whiplash protection offered by the Citroen C3 was found to be poor.

This time it's Suzuki that has been drawn into the battle.Toyota and BMW have been fighting for months over the relative benefits of diesel and hybrid cars, with everyone from Fiat to Volkswagen also trumpeting the strengths of diesel, but no-one at Suzuki expected to be caught in the crossfire. But it has happened.Toyota forced Suzuki to change the advertising for its new baby Alto to protect the position of its all-new Prius, which I have test driven for today's Carsguide.Industry insiders say the change is only minor, but Suzuki was forced to change its touting of 'Australia's most fuel-efficient petrol car' to 'Australia's most fuel-efficient non-hybrid petrol car' after a complaint by Toyota Australia.Yet, ironically, Suzuki is happy to have its $12,490 Alto compared with the $39,900 Prius.Follow Paul Gover on Twitter!

A bit of neighbourly competition between the Volkswagen Jetta TDi and the Toyota Prius.

The Chevrolet Camaro might be built and sold in the USA, but it was designed, developed, tested and approved down under as a spin-off from the VE Commodore. It is named this week among the 31 finalists for the World COTY (see gallery above for full shortlist), and will be judged by a global panel of 60 motoring journalists before the winner is named at the New York Auto Show in April next year.The finalists carry badges from Audi to Toyota and are as diverse as the latest green-power Honda Insight and Toyota Prius to the super luxury Porsche Panamera."The list came from the manufacturers, who sent us their eligible cars for the year. There may be one or two more yet, because a couple of companies might have some extra models before the end of the year," says WCOTY co-chairman, Peter Lyon. "For example, there is the Mercedes SLS Gullwing. We don't know yet when it will go on sale."Apart from the World COTY contest, the same judging panel also decides the World Performance Car of the Year (see gallery), World Green Car of the Year and World Car Design of the year.So far there are 18 potential winners in the performance category, from the Aston Martin V12 Vantage to the Renault Clio 3 Renault Sport. Judging on all fronts now advances to the semi-finals, three cars in each case, which will be named at the Geneva Motor Show at the start of March. Then it is over to the judges to drive, assess and vote."This year we have 60 judges altogether. We've capped at that number, after adding a couple of new judges this year," says Lyon. "Originally we had about 44 judges. But 60 is the basic number of the North American, European and Japanese COTY awards and that seemed like the right number.""We've got judges now for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. We've basically covered 25 or 26 countries, from Australia to Russia and everywhere between."Lyon says the basics of the award have not changed for the sixth judging and he makes no apologies for the list of contenders. "The German and Japanese cars are romping it in again. It's basically a reflection of the quality of car manufacturing today. The Japanese and Germans are making the best cars in the world, full stop," he says."But we think, of all the Car of the Year awards, this is the most natural. There is no pressure on any of the judges. They just vote for the best cars as they see them in their countries." 

Even though Brand T sells more diesels down under than any other brand — and most of its rivals combined — it says there is no future for diesel passenger cars. Instead, Toyota is putting its faith in hybrids and upcoming high-efficiency unleaded engines, although it will continue to dominate the diesel four-wheel drive and workhorse business with its huge fleet of HiLuxes, HiAces and LandCruisers. "We are not pursuing diesel in our passenger vehicles. There are no definitive plans for diesel," says the head of sales and marketing for Toyota Australia, Dave Buttner. "There is no doubt that there are consumers attracted to diesel, but we believe we can achieve our volume and share aspirations on the back of the product plan we have for the future." Buttner dismisses existing Toyota diesel models on sale in Europe, including the Corolla. "Globally, Toyota believes Hybrid Synergy Drive — the system already used in the Prius and also destined for next year's locally-made Camry hybrid — is the technology of the future. In Europe we're seeing the emergence of high-efficiency petrol engines for small passenger cars. "Providing we can bring the Hybrid Synergy Drive products at the right time we believe it will be advantageous over the medium and longer term." Buttner admits the no-diesel plan runs counter to its existing strength in the four-wheel drive and commercial businesses, but says the two are very separate issues. And, even though none of its workhorses has the latest in diesel particulate filters to reduce emissions and they trail way behind benchmark diesel passenger cars, he says the technology is improving. "We've always been strong in diesels with commercial vehicles, but even there we have had reduced fuel consumption and improved emissions."

Toyota alone has plans for eight hybrids and they will be joined by everything up to super-luxury petrol-electric cars from Porsche and Mercedes-Benz. With a growing number of fuel-efficient diesel cars also landing from Europe, the number of bowser wowsers will soar as quickly as fuel economy falls. Toyota yesterday unveiled its third-generation Prius, the global hybrid poster car, with the promise of everything from 3.9 litre/100km fuel economy and CO2 emissions of 89 grams/kilometre to eco-plastics in the cabin and a solar roof panel to cool the cabin when the car is parked. But hybrids are still not cheap and parking a new Prius in the driveway will cost a minimum of $39,990. The Prius previews some of the technology to be seen next year in the company's first locally-made hybrid, a version of the Camry, and sets the benchmark for the upcoming Honda Insight. It will be the Prius's closest showroom challenger, although slightly smaller, with a pricetag set close to $30,000. Toyota Australia is aiming for 4500 Prius sales next year, in a global total which could go as high at 300,000 in 88 countries worldwide. "In future years hybrids will become the mainstream cars," the chief engineer of the new Prius, Akihiko Otsuka, said yesterday. The Prius push comes as a growing number of carmakers look for a fuel- efficient solution to the world's energy needs, as well as a segway to the all-electric cars which will eventually take over from petrol power. For Toyota, and its Lexus luxury brand, that will mean eight new models led by the Prius, local Camry and a compact Lexus called the HS250h. There is no talk yet of either a HiLux hybrid or any diesel- electric hybrid. "We have looked at diesel but it would be too expensive for the consumer," said Otsuka. The Prius has now been sold in Australia for eight years, although Honda was first into showrooms with its original Insight and still has the hybrid price leader with its Civic. But this is not as technologically advanced as the Prius. AUSTRALIA'S FAVOURITE HYBRIDS Toyota Prius Price: $39,990 Economy: 3.9L/100km Emissions: 89g/km Honda Civic Hybrid Price: $35,990 Economy: 4.6L/100km Emissions: 109g/100km Lexus RX450h Price: $89,900 Economy: 6.4L/100km Emissions: 150g/km

The company which has led commercial development of hybrid/electric technology with Prius and will have the Australian-made hybrid Camry in the market by the end of the year is poised to take the next big step with range-extended plug-in hybrids utilising the latest generation of Lithium-ion battery technology."The philosophy with this development step -and it is a philosophy being followed by other companies developing similar systems - is that the vehicles are made available on a lease arrangement and put into the marketplace for up to a three year term with selected users," Ashley Edwards, Toyota Motor Corporation Australia product planning manager, said yesterday."We will use those vehicles and their performance in the marketplace to gauge reaction, to gauge performance and to understand."Mr Edwards said that while there was no confirmed action plan the company was "studying" the best way to integrate the next-generation cars into a real-world testing program."I think the ultimate idea would be to provide the vehicle with enough freedom to gather really valuable information from the community ... so government personnel or an electricity infrastructure provider would be a good starting point."Mr Edwards said that while an ideal list of candidates had not been finalised it was possible that a testing program could be implemented by next year."While the cars are not available right at this moment I would envisage 2010 ... It could be a 2010 program."Lithium-ion battery technology has several major advantages over the current industry-standard nickel-metal hydride batteries with greater range, less weight and longer active life but they are far more expensive."Toyota is continuing to develop its Lithium-ion technology but at the moment I think there is a real downside in the global economic crisis ... what I think that has done is push back some of the payback in terms of sales and volume," Mr Edwards said."Toyota is obviously looking at a complete arsenal of products in this area, starting with the Prius but moving through other developments such as the PHV (plug-in hybrid vehicle) and beyond."Mr Edwards said that Toyota was taking a "watching brief" with regard to the VTG (vehicle to grid) developments where an electric vehicle can be used to "feed" unused electricity back into the grid."In regards to that kind of infrastructure integration we are observing what Australia is planning and we are involved in a working group with the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries to discover the best way of formulating the infrastructure to serve the mobility solution," Mr Edwards said."We haven't really got a position on it yet but we are looking at options available to us and using the working group to help understand those options."

The cost of ownership of new-generation alternative fuel cars has also been highlighted at a high-level meeting last week between 10 carmakers and the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.The FCAI wants to fast-track a united front by the industry as it prepares car buyers for the rapid growth of green cars. The chamber's chief executive, Andrew McKellar, says there is an urgent need for infrastructure to be in place for electric cars, new-generation plug-in hybrids, ethanol and alternative fuels."There is a sense of urgency in the industry as we have a number of brands preparing to bring in cars with new fuel technologies," he says. "There is a roll for co-ordination across the industry to ensure that we're pursuing a more pro-active strategy to work with all stakeholders."The approach with electric vehicles needs to be seen as one element of a higher strategy that also relates to environmental and green vehicles."These technologies present an enormous global challenge, he says. "Around the world the challenge of achieving enhanced environmental performance is one of the most pressing priorities the car industry has," McKellar says. "In the case of electric vehicles we have one very practical example of an emerging technology that has accelerated in the past few years."Apart from infrastructure needs, the FCAI's electric vehicle working group will identify the types of vehicles expected to be launched as well as technical and registration requirements of new-generation hybrids and plug-in electric cars.Mitsubishi Australia, which hopes to have its i-MIEV electric car on sale soon, was one of the participants at the FCAI meeting. Spokesperson Lenore Fletcher says it is pleasing to see all parties ‘start to find our voice in terms of acceptance’. "We are coming to grips with the requirements of the new technology," she says.Apart from Mitsubishi, Toyota and Honda will soon introduce new hybrids. In addition to the new Prius, Toyota will introducing the hybrid Camry early next year. And GM-Holden is aiming to have its Volt ‘range-extender’ hybrid on sale here by 2012.Despite their emerging popularity, hybrids are still a small part of the overall car scene. Last year about 5200 hybrid passenger vehicles were sold in a market of more than 1 million.Subaru too has tested the electric current by showing of its plug-in Stella, while Mercedes-Benz hopes to have an electric version of its Smart on sale soon, which will be followed by battery-powered A-Class and B-Class hatches."We must ensure that Australia is ready for this technology," McKellar says.