The car that was the forerunner of hybrids is completely renewed and surprises again

It could be said that the Toyota Corolla It is the most famous model of the Japanese brand, not only because of the number of years it has had on the world market, but also because of its sales success, since it has exceeded 50 million copies since 1966, when it began to be manufactured, until the present. Throughout these 56 years, the Corolla has undergone 12 updates to its line and specifications that have kept it current.

However, there is another model that is much more modern and with a considerably shorter history, which has entered the gallery of the most iconic models of the Japanese brand due to the technological proposal that it represented at the beginning, to a way that tried to accompany that change of concept of a car: the Toyota Prius.

It was the first hybrid car in the world, born in 1997 primarily for the Japanese market, to become a global car since the year 2000. At that beginning, however, hybridization did not have the importance that it acquired over the years. of time in terms of environmental care, rather it was a car that proposed the use of electricity to reduce fuel consumption for the majority of people.

Instead, the car caused a sensation from its forms. Although in the first version, the bodywork was modern but did not break the standards of the time, already in its second generation, launched in 2003, it began to show a much bolder profile, which was fully accentuated with the third generation from 2009, and it was definitively confirmed with the fourth, from 2015.

What happened to the Prius was that because it was avant-gardeIt was a novelty before the rest, and although that helped it to be massively associated as the first hybrid car that people can remember, it was later caught up by the competition, and also surpassed, even by other Toyota models. Its futuristic shape was mixed with the conventional one of other cars and being a hybrid seemed not to be enough to maintain that aspect for a longer time.

This is how, in a quick 180 degree turn, Toyota has decided that the fifth generation of the Prius will completely change and adapt to the requests of the market, super populated with cars with this technology, which at the same time are halfway between the oil tankers and the electric ones.

But not only the shape has changed to show a modern profile without being disruptive, but the technology as well, since the new model will be mainly a PHEV, that is to say a plug-in hybrid and no more a conventional hybrid with little 100% electric autonomy as they have been until now. The new electric autonomy of the Prius will be around 80 kilometers, which will allow it to be much more efficient than the competition.

Although depending on the markets, there will be availability of non-plug-in hybridization and even an electric-only model, the new Prius will essentially try to conquer the PHEV market with a combination of a new 2.0-liter engine with 148 hp, along with a 120 electric motor. kW or 160 CV, which will allow it to deliver a total power of 164 kW or 223 CV, considerably higher than the previous 90 kW or 122 CV.

Additionally, the technological change proposed by the car adds another very interesting innovation, which in some way allows the Prius to once again be an advance of mass-produced cars, and that is that in the most evolved version, it will also have a range extender. electric thanks to solar panels that are installed in the glass roof, and that will enable the car to acquire an extra 1,250 kilometers of zero-emission autonomy per year.

The 5th generation Prius will be presented this week at the Los Angeles International Motor Show, and will begin to be marketed in the second half of 2023.

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