The Japanese market has got a new green car in the form of the next-generation Prius PHV. The car was launched a few days ago and sports the latest Toyota design and technology. It is the fourth generation for the car.
The Prius PHV is powered by the same 1.8-litre four-cylinder petrol engine which has been mated to the same electric motor but with a larger battery pack to give it a pure electric range of 62km. Power gets transmitted to the front wheels via a CVT.
The design of the PHV Prius is quite similar to that of the standard car but with a slightly different face, LED head lamps and a different coloured grille to differentiate it from the latter. Oh and of course, there are the PHV badges at the rear to give you the extra bragging rights. The cabin is standard Prius fare, save for a large screen in the middle which has eliminated most of the buttons on the dashboard.
The Prius was the first hybrid vehicle and introduced to the world in 1995 with production and sales beginning in 1997. We in are a long way off from PHEVs and that means such cars are still a long way off. However, we can be hopeful that with changing mind sets the process will get sped up by a few years.
