new prius test car spotted
 

https://twitter.com/kaokana4/status/...525504/photo/2
final prius gen has been spotted out for testing. super long hood and angled a pillars. toyota is going for the most aero prius ever by far

Well at least it looks like they got rid of the tailfins.

That windshield angle looks excessive to me. I'll assume this picture was taken in Japan and the test driver is about 5'6 or so. Put someone 6' tall in that car and their head will be rubbing on the headliner.

its pretty extreme. im also surprised they are using bigger wheels which usually means worse fuel economy. sure it feels the wheel well but also increases rolling resistance and tire cost

the rear looks like a tesla model 3 rip off. i wonder what would happen if i extended my rear windshield like that and then did a little duckbill lip spoiler versus the big flat spoiler currently on my ioniq and the current prius

Larger diameter tires have lower rolling resistance than smaller diameter tires.

Web quote: Tires with a smaller diameter have a higher rolling resistance with the same inflation pressure, because tire deformation is proportionally greater. The tire is flattened more and is “less round”.

This is one of the reasons why giant wheels / tires are all the range on EVs. This is why BMW had special skinny 19" tires made for the i3.


However larger wheel / tire combos tend to be heavier which increases rotational mass and consumes more fuel when accelerating - which hurts city mileage. As with everything there are tradeoffs.

then why does the ioniq with 15 inch tires get better highway mpg than the 17 inch trims?

also wayne at cleanmpg even did tests and showed that smaller tires make a huge difference in mpg across the board


bigger tires are for better performance and '' looks''. remember, people are hesitant to switching to evs because of the styling factor. thats how tesla took off. they made the first ev that didnt look sissy and weak and cheesy. they made a stylish ev with good long range. no one wouldve bought a 15 inch tire tesla if it meant longer range

Curious if this is actually a "prius". Seems like the prius got more sedan-like or the sedan got more prius-like.
Perhaps next gen will combine the camry and prius and kill off one of the names?

There is a lot more to wheel / tires than just the diameter.

Larger diameter = less rolling resistance
Wider tread = more rolling resistance
Stickier compound = more rolling resistance
Heavier tire = more rotational mass = worse fuel economy.

When BMW had a special wheel tire made specifically for fuel economy they didn't go with 15 inch tires (or 13 or 12 inch) They went with 19 inch tires with the tread width narrower than a 15 that only weighs 16 lbs.

The test car still has a hatch so I'd say it is pretty safe to say it is a Prius.

Prius sales have dropped a lot in the USA but it still sells pretty well in Japan.

The rumors are that the new prius is going to be sportier and a “ coupe” style car and drop the traditional hatchback. They are trying to get buyers interested in the Prius and to make it look better since sales have dropped big time. Even the rav4 hybrid now outsells the Prius hybrid

I'm not at all surprised that the RAV4 hybrid outsells the Prius. The RAV4 is Toyota's best selling vehicle in the USA and the 2nd best selling vehicle in the world. Midsize crossovers are the best selling segment in the USA. Meanwhile sales of cars are in freefall.

I can see Toyota offering a "coupe" style 4-door sedan but I don't see any reason to call it a Prius. We have a Corolla Cross and Corolla Hatch - no reason not to have a Corolla Coupe. The Germans have made sedan, coupe, 4-door coupe, convertible, and wagon versions of their compact offerings.

There is nothing sporty about a Prius - I just don't see Toyota trying to take that angle again. Remember the Super Bowl ad with the bank robbers using a Prius as a get-away car? Toyota tried to talk up the independent suspension in the current generation Prius and call it sporty but nobody believed it and a 121 hp mid-size car with a CVT just is not sporty.


That said - the test car in the picture has a hatch.