Auris Hybrid
Toyota
has released a few new details for its upcoming
Auris hybrid, which recently went into production in Britain, making Britain the first country outside of Japan to produce engines for Toyota hybrid cars.
For
instance, the Auris hybrid offers a drag
co-efficient of 0.28, thanks to a full exterior
redesign, so the new Auris isn't just coming in a new hybrid option, but a completely redesigned body.
More important, the Hybrid
Synergy Drive powering the Auris will utilize a 97-hp
1.8L gasoline engine mated to a NiMH battery that
provides several different driving modes: ECO mode is
for is efficient driving; Power mode increases
performance; and EV mode is for pure electric driving.
Using EV mode the Auris hybrid can drive up to 1.25
miles using only electric power at speeds up to 31 mph.
Still, the point of the Auris hybrid is not electric power. Instead, it's the ability to completely shut off the engine, particularly when no power is needed. Moreover, when no power is needed - including electric power - the Auris hybrid regenerates electricity to replenish its battery pack. Hence, 1.25 miles of electric power is somewhat deceiving.
Ultimately, the Auris hybrid is not an electric car, it uses a combination of gasoline and electricity to provide the most fuel efficiency based upon driving conditions. In particular, this combination of parallel drives enables the Auris hybrid to achieve very high rates of fuel consumption in congested driving.
Thus, a driver might use 1.25 miles of electricity to move through some traffic, then regenerate more electricity when braking or coasting into the next congested slowdown or stop-light, and repeat this cycle over and over.
In the process, of course, a certain amount of gasoline will also be used, but much less than compared to a conventionally-fueled vehicle in such conditions.
Toyota will begin Auris hybrid production next year in
England, but there is no indication that Toyota has any
plans to sell the Auris hybrid in the US.
For more information on
the Toyota Auris hybrid, Click here.
--Read
More about the Toyota
Auris on the Hybridcarblog.
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