The fourth generation Toyota Prius will give up the baton to a fully revamped one next year or the next at the latest. It’s been 24 years since it became an icon, and Toyota intends to keep it as is.
It has been almost four years since the launch of the fourth generation of the Toyota Prius to the motor media, and Motor.es was there. To celebrate the occasion, the newcomer surrounded himself with the models that preceded him: Prius 1g, Prius 2g and Prius 3g (the latter the most successful by far).
As each generation lasts about six years in international markets, the new model does not have much left. It will continue to be a hybrid car, and not just any, but a “halo” car – within modesty – for a very special audience. Decidedly, the fourth generation abandoned the goal of maximizing clientele, became more polarizing.
As reported by Autocar, the new model will mix elements of the GA C platform (TNGA architecture) that it now uses with the specialized bZ (all-electric) range. Toyota has shown us more than once how the mixed platforms are, so there will be no problem.
Four generations of the Toyota Prius, from 1997 to 2015
It may be a model plug-in, like the one that is still sold, because the conventional version was no longer sold in many markets, although it still exists in the United States or Japan. In this way, their emissions can go even lower, especially over short distances.
As for the possibility that your engine will end up running on hydrogen, which will neutralize local CO2 emissions, it will take a while to see because Toyota does not have such a mature technology, perhaps by 2025. Its heat engine will continue to consume gasoline, but surely a little less than the current model.
At least the fifth generation will not have 100% electric versions -the safest thing-, if we take into account the words of Andrea Carlucci, head of Marketing and Product Development of Toyota in Europe: “The Prius clearly remains an icon and represents who we are: hybrids and leaders in electrification”.
Toyota Prius Plug-In or Prius Prime, the plug-in version
Toyota’s strategy to reach zero emissions by 2050 goes through a multiple focus that includes normal and plug-in hybrids, hydrogen fuel cells, pure electric and thermal with alternative fuels -such as hydrogen-. Do not bet everything on electric, far from it.
The fifth generation will be able to last in the European market until its foreseeable end of commercial life, well into the decade, before Euro 7 regulations and CO2 emission limits become difficult to comply with. However, Will there be a sixth generation? The only way to find out is by perpetrating industrial espionage, and I’m not for the job.
But the long-term survival of the Prius becomes more difficult as we approach 2030, and then worse. The improved Nickel-Metal Hydride bipolar batteries will mean a performance improvement that will make it more electric, at least for the non-plug-in versions – it is anyone’s guess if they will make it to Europe.
Typical NiMh batteries (left) vs bipolar NiMh batteries (right)
However, this packaging and performance optimization technology can also be applied to lithium, an element used in plug-in hybrids for their batteries, so the Plug-In version should have more capacity than the current model -8.8 kWh – using the same volume.
There is possibly no such sixth generation, and if there is, it will have to run on hydrogen yes or yes for the heat engine, which is not the most efficient from the point of view of thermodynamics. By then, the Prius will have 30 years of history, it is reasonable that there are no more, and the model that replaces it is either fully electric or a smaller version than the fuel cell Mirai.
Europe’s first-generation Prius will be historic in 2030
It will go down in the automotive history books as the hybrid car that was on sale the longest, and sold by the millions – the most. For better or for worse, it will also become an icon for new generations of drivers, and even as a future classic, given its possible longevity. It will remain as a pioneer, which is what its name means in Latin.