After months of waiting, the 2016 Toyota Prius is finally here and as you can see it has a rather polarizing design. It’s the first model to ride on the brand new TNGA – Toyota New Global Architecture which has enabled some serious weight savings, even though the new model is 60mm longer, 15mm wider and 20mm lower than the old one. In addition, the chassis is now 60% more rigid and Toyota mentions they were able to lower the center of gravity as well as install a new front suspension and a double wishbone rear suspension.
More important, the 2016 Toyota Prius will provide a 10% increase in fuel economy and its combustion engine has now reached a thermal efficiency of more than 40%. The engineers made some of the hybrid-related components smaller, including the newly developed nickel-metal hydride battery which although it now has a more compact size, Toyota says it should last longer and will provide better charging capabilities.
It will be offered with a ton of safety and assistance systems, with some relevant examples being dynamic radar cruise control, lane departure alert, road sign assist, automatic high beam and a pre-collision system. There will be seven exterior paints to choose from, including a new Hypersonic Red, while the cabin has kept just about the same layout but it has gained improved materials.
Sales of the all-new 2016 Toyota Prius will begin before the year’s end in Japan, with the rest of the world getting the car next year.
Source: Toyota
