Toyota have taken the wraps off the new generation Prius and it will be offered in three variants; two full hybrids and a plug-in hybrid. Initially, the plug-in hybrid variant will be on sale in Europe and the full hybrids will follow after for the rest of the market, namely North America and Japan.
In terms of looks, the exterior design has been kept quite clean and it inherits the monoform silhouette of the original Prius. The car draws inspiration from the hammerhead shark and it gets sleek LED headlamp units, an erect front bumper and air dams down low. The LED DRLs have a prong-like design that looks quite neat on the bonnet. The rear section gets a horizontally placed tail-light setup and a light strip on the boot lid.
The interior gets a blacked-out theme for the dash, seat stitching, instrument panel and the 12.3-inch infotainment unit with wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. The dash also gets a clean layout with air-conditioning vents placed lower as shown in the image. There is ambient lighting that doubles up as a warning system before the audible warnings take over.
The plug-in hybrid variant comes with a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder engine coupled with a 13.6 kWh battery. The 216 hp helps this car achieve a 0-100 km/h dash in just 6.7 seconds. The company also claims a 50 per cent range hike over the outgoing model.
North America and Japan will be offered two strong hybrid variants that equips a 1.8-litre and a 2.0-litre engine coupled with a hybrid system with a combined output of 190 hp.
The company has made no official statement whether the car will make it to India. Currently, the focus remains on hybrid models like the Camry hybrid and Hyryder hybrid.
Story: Sumesh Soman
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