Thursday, December 3, 2015

5 Things You Should Know About the All-New 2016 Toyota Prius

-The fourth-generation Toyota Prius—which we recently drove and reviewed—will go on sale later this year, and it represents a comprehensive rework of the Prius model. Here are a few key factoids about the car for those who live and breathe hybrids—and for those who may not know much about them at all.-Although Toyota calls the new Prius shown here—designated "NG" internally—the fourth generation of the car, it’s really more like a fifth-generation model. That’s because even though the 1998 Japanese and the 2001 American Prius shared a body style, there were many—and important—upgrades made when it came to America:---The output of the 1.5-liter gasoline engine was bumped from 57 to 70 horsepower and the torque from 75 to 82 lb-ft. The electric motor also produced about 10 percent more power and 15 percent more torque. A new nickel-metal-hydride battery design saved 39 pounds, and the software controlling the hybrid operation was thoroughly reworked.-As a result, zero-to-60-mph acceleration improved from 14.1 to 13.0 seconds, and a half-second was chopped from the quarter-mile time. At the same time the overall fuel economy went up about 14 percent. We’d say those improvements add up to a generational designation. Perhaps the first Japanese model should be called Gen 0 in recognition of these changes.-Yes, the outgoing Prius plug-in variant had a lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery, but this new model is the first regular Prius to offer one; it's standard with every version except for the base trim level, the Prius Two. At 54 pounds, the new Li-ion battery pictured here weighs 35 pounds less than the nickel-metal-hydride (NiMH) battery. And it uses only 56 cells rather than 168 because the Li-ion cells are rated at 3.7 volts versus 1.2 for the NiMH cells. The voltage of the two batteries ends up virtually the same at 202 volts (NiMH) and 207 (Li-ion).-Some of this weight savings comes from the inherent power density of the Li-ion chemistry, but the new battery also is smaller. Its 0.75-kWh capacity is barely half of the NiMH battery’s 1.31 kWh. (The NiMH pack is pictured here.) This difference is possible because the Li-ion battery can reliably use about 70 percent of its capacity without compromising its life. The older battery can use only about 40 percent, meaning that it is typically not charged above 70 percent of capacity and not discharged below 30 percent. Either way, the usable capacity is a little over 0.5 kWh.-The new Prius also gets a significantly revised CVT. There’s still a planetary gearset with two motor-generators—referred to as MG1 and MG2—to achieve the CVT operation, but a second planetary gearset, used for a necessary rpm change, has been replaced by a simpler two-axis gearset.-This change results in fewer gear teeth coming into contact and reduces parasitic losses by about 20 percent, which improves efficiency. Interestingly enough, this makes the new Prius transmission operate more like the gearboxes in current Ford hybrids, which used the original Toyota design as their basis.-The 2016 Prius represents the 20th year of Prius production, if we go back to the original Japanese-market version that went on sale in December 1997. When the hybrid technology was new, it was easy to make substantial mileage improvements with each generation, but Toyota has managed to keep the improvements coming, especially in the case of the latest Prius Eco version.-Using the 2016 car's EPA fuel-economy figures and our estimates for the original 1998 Japanese model as a basis for comparison, city mpg has jumped from 35 to 58 mpg—a 23 mpg, or 66 percent, increase. The highway-mpg increase is slightly smaller at 16 mpg, or 43 percent. But that still adds up to the combined rating rising from 36 mpg for the ’98 model to 56 mpg for the 2016 Eco. (The non-Eco touts a 52-mpg combined rating.)---No wonder Toyota can confidently brag that the Prius delivers the highest mpg of any vehicle without a plug.-One of the numerous measures that account for the Prius Eco's 4-mpg increase in its combined fuel-economy rating versus non-Eco models is the replacement of the spare tire with a tire-repair kit. That means the high-pressure compact spare tire and its associated jack have been removed in favor of a can of tire sealant and a small electric air compressor. That saved about 30 pounds.---But it also saved some space, allowing Toyota to lower the floor of the Eco's luggage compartment by about three inches. That’s enough to increase cargo capacity from 24.6 to 27.4 cubic feet behind the rear seat. When that seat is folded, the increase is from 62.7 to 65.5 cubic feet.-Yet this last benefit is not confined only to the Prius Eco. The Prius Four, both with and without the Touring package, also ditches the spare tire and jack, likely to minimize the weight impact of its additional feature content. The extra space is just another bonus.---For more on the new Toyota Prius, check out our first-drive review here.–
from Car and Driver Blog http://www.caranddriver.com/flipbook/5-things-you-should-know-about-the-all-new-2016-toyota-prius
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