By: Dave Abrahams
Las Vegas, Nevada - Last night I watched a family drama, made in 2010, called "The Kids are All Right" which, ostensibly, has nothing to do with cars.
Where this is going, however, is that in the film the 18-year-old daughter of the family drives an old, second-generation Toyota Prius.
That a parent could afford - and would consider - a Prius as a first car for a teenager is a telling indication of how hybrids in general and the Prius in particular have moved out of the fringe market and into the automotive mainstream.
When the Prius went on sale in 1997 it was the first mass-produced hybrid - and it was regarded as an oddity, to be classified alongside milk floats and gas-turbine sports-cars.
Now, 18 years and three and a half million units later, hybrids are part of the automotive landscape. The fourth generation Prius, revealed this week in Las Vegas, will have to succeed on its own merits as a practical, stylish family car, rather than appealing to the tree-huggers and trendies who bought the first edition.
RECOGNISING THE SHIFT
And Toyota seems to have recognised this shift, focusing on edgy design and fun-to-drive chassis dynamics, as much as 'green cred'.
It's the first car to reach the market that's built on the more rigid Toyota New Global Architecture platform, with revised front struts and rear double-wishbone suspension, and a lower centre of gravity than its predecessor.
It's 60mm longer, 15mm wider and 20mm lower - but what's more striking is that the highest point of the roof has moved forward and the bonnet-line lowered to the point where the Toyota badge on the front is the same height as on the GT86 sports-car.
Toyota is emphasising the new car's tight, accurate steering, agile handling and sporty suspension, none of which is an exclusively hybrid characteristic.
HYBRID EVOLUTION
By contrast, the changes to the drivetrain have been evolutionary, rather than ground-breaking; almost every mechanical component has been replaced, revised or just plain blueprinted to reduce both bulk and weight, without sacrificing performance.
The result, says Toyota, is a Prius that's no faster than its predecessor, but lighter, nippier and significantly more fuel-efficient; the slide-rule sensei are claiming a thermal efficiency rating of more than 40 percent.
The interior is just as edgy, featuring a wide instrument panel with layered construction that clearly defines the "display zone", separating it from the "control zone", which is now closer to the driver.
Striking if rather impractical trim elements in the lower section of the cabin are finished in white, which Toyota says is intended to evok and impression of fine bone china.
The new Prius will be released in Japan at the end of 2015, and sales will be rolled out around the world during 2016; Toyota SA says it is currently looking at Prius 4.0 with a view to local launch, but that no decision has yet been made.
IOL