motoring
D r . k e l l e n s i lv e r t h o r n Dr. Kellen Silverthorn is Just For Canadian Doctors’ automotive writer. He tries to keep one convertible and/or one track-day car in the family fleet.
Prius playbook
The paradigm-shifting hybrid car keeps getting greener + better
Wh atever col our it is, th is car is green …
harvested from both alternator current and regenerative braking forces and then battery stored. First production Prii (that’s plural for Prius) hit Japanese showrooms in 1997, with a slightly updated driveline gracing North American models first sold in 2000. Sales were initially anemic—just 123,000 units total worldwide of the Gen I over its six-year run (1997–2003). Buyers were mostly technology geeks, as it wasn’t until 2006 that Al Gore’s narration of An Inconvenient Truth unleashed the wider greenhouse gas awareness tsunami. As a basic transporta-
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tion proposition, the Gen I was expensive and in many ways did not outshine its cheaper conventional-drivetrain alternatives. During the next six years (2003–2009) Gen II Prius—larger, more stylish and practical—saw Toyota’s cumulative sales grow by a factor of 10 to a total of 1.2 million units. During this period, celebrities touted their green credentials by showing up at the Academy Awards in a Prius, rather than Schwarzenegger-like Hummers. The Gen II model was still expensive given its size, performance and appointments. In the last six years of 2009– 2015, the Gen III Prius Toyota
green credentials has ebbed. The “greenest” buyer should arguably have preferred a full-electric Nissan Leaf during the Prius Gen III run—yet total worldwide sales of the Leaf over this same period were just 200,000 units. November 2015’s Paris Climate Change conference signaled the resolve of public, government and business opinion on the greenhouse gas file. That’s fortuitous timing for the release of Toyota’s Gen IV Prius (2016–2022 estimated). The Toyota model has well-established green credentials, name recognition, a quality-focused mother brand—all in a car big enough to serve a family with original 2.2 children. On both price green-mobile : (MSRP of $25,996) and range The fourth(~900 km), the Prius slays togeneration Toyota day’s full electrics (Leaf entry Prius—”the world’s most popular and price is $31,998 and its range proven hybrid is 172 km). It’s a no-brainer to automobile.” predict further multi-fold sales growth for Toyota with the Gen IV Prius model, including Canadian sales. And in the looks department, the new 2016 Prius styling merges the aerodynamic appearance of both the Generation II / Gen III Prius with the flamboyant swooping styling of the latest Toyota Corolla and Camry models. As before, the Prius fits in between these two seminal Toyota models in interior size. So, the 2016 Prius has more sizzle while losing some of its singular identity. Its driving dynamics are further evolved, though still thoroughly amassed a further three-fold increase in Toyota—capturing the ethos of affordable worldwide sales to a total of 3.9 million quality but arguably lacking in either charmunits. Toyota’s Prius hybrid has been the ing quirkiness or Tesla athleticism. bestselling car model overall in Japan the With each new Prius Generation the batlast four years running. In Canada—not tery side of the hybrid system has become so much. Since 2000, all Canadian Toyota lighter, less expensive and more powerful. Camry sales are ~5 times that of the 55,728 A roughly 10% improvement in (fossil) fuel Prii, and all Canadian Toyota Corolla sales economy has been achieved with each new almost 15 times greater than Prii. iteration. The Gen IV Toyota is a late adapter Arguably, the growth of 2009–2015 Gen of lithium-ion battery packs, largely moving III Prius sales to 3.9 million units had more to on from the nickel-metal-hydrid era. In eido with the strength of the product and the ther guise, the Prius is routinely regarded as brand, as the model’s claim to leading-edge the lowest-cost per kilometre free-range car,
Just For Canadian doctors Spring 2016
toyota canada
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appy 20th Birthday to the paradigm-shifting Toyota Pruis “hybrid.” How time flies! Once mould-breaking, the Prius nameplate is now mature and solidly mainstream. Here’s what you need to know as the Generation IV model hits Canadian showrooms. Prius Concept debuted in 1995 as a working prototype, and as such has innovation as its foundation (get ready for some car-geek techno jargon). The original Prius, and every one since, combines an Atkinsoncycle gasoline / internal-combustion driveline with a parallel-path electric drive. These are good things. The electric energy is