Toyota’s goal is to offer a hybrid powertrain in every one of its European models ‘as early as possible in the 2020s’. That means electrified drivetrains in everything from the Avensis to the Auris, and everything from 4x4s to sports cars in between.
The Auris HSD (Hybrid Synergy Drive) was the first mainstream Toyota model to gain hybrid power in 2010, and up next is the new-generation Yaris. It's another 15 months before the real thing arrives, but Toyota unveiled this Toyota Yaris HSD Concept at the recent 2011 Geneva motor – bar a few tweaks for production, this is what will go on sale in summer 2012.
The Toyota Yaris HSD Concept features in the current issue of Green CAR, a free 32-page mag with April 2011 issue of CAR. Inside we join a group of students driving an electric Radical sports car from Alaska to Argentina, test the Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid super saloon and win some awards for our efforts on the Brighton-to-London eco car rally.
The Toyota Yaris HSD Concept made its world debut at the 2011 Geneva motor show, alongside the Toyota FT-86 II concept car.
Toyota claims that the number of people choosing hybrid-powered vehicles has doubled in the past two years, and that customers looking to buy a hybrid are three times more likely to consider a Toyota than those intending to purchase a conventional diesel or petrol car.
The Prius and Auris HSD use a 1.8-litre petrol engine, but the Yaris gets a 1.33-litre four-cylinder engine mated to a CVT gearbox, electric motor, lithium-ion batteries and a front-wheel drive chassis.
Official figures have yet to be released, but the Yaris HSD will improve on the Prius’s 89g/km and have a 30-mile EV range – Toyota promises class-leading fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.
The Yaris HSD will be launched in the second half of 2012, and be built at Toyota's Valenciennes plant in France.
Concept car touches include rear-view cameras and 18in wheels, but the Yaris HSD has fuel-saving tweaks too, including a small upper grille, heavily contoured headlights, a rear spoiler to managed air flow, and underbody cladding.
The Toyota Yaris HSD’s roof is entirely covered with solar panels, which power the car’s air-conditioning unit and help reduce fuel consumption.
source: carmagazine
