New MPV to use Lithium-ion Battery Pack
Canadian Auto Press
There have been rumours for more than a year about a new Prius brand taking shape, a move by Toyota that would capitalize on the world’s best-known hybrid nameplate, an icon for the green movement.
Toyota Hybrid X concept
Now we’re starting to get information about the new model via Reuters news agency, which is quoting Japanese daily Nikkei. The new model, a mini-minivan, dubbed MPV in global markets, is an ideal configuration for a hybrid drivetrain. Its five- to seven-occupant layout via two- to three-row seating maximizes people and cargo carrying capability which, combined with dimensions that are smaller than Toyota’s Sienna or any of the North American-bound minivans makes for an environmental footprint with less impact than even the current Prius hatchback.
The new Prius MPV will be the first in Toyota’s hybrid lineup to use a lithium-ion battery pack unless the plug-in Prius arrives on the market sooner, according to Nikkei; both will feature an “in-house” developed battery in as far as it will be developed by Toyota and strategic partner Panasonic Corp. Toyota will manufacture the new batteries at its Teiho factory in Aichi Prefecture, but later is expected to migrate battery manufacturing to their joint venture company, Panasonic EV Energy Co.
The expectation is for the new model to join the Prius hatchback sometime next year as a 2012 model, but it’s still too early to nail down a delivery date or much else about the new model for that matter. All we know is that it will be a “competitively priced Prius hybrid minivan” according to the Reuters report.
Competitively priced Prius models in mind, Reuters also speculated on a smaller lower priced entry-level Prius model based on the FT-CH concept that surfaced at the Geneva show in 2007. Nothing is known of this possibility outside of the Toyota executive and product planning inner circle, but normally such talk is not without reason. As soon as the second Prius model surfaces, we’ll know that an entire Prius lineup is on the way.
