Toyota Prepping 94 MPG Compact Hybrid?

The promise of an expanded Prius lineup has gotten a lot of people excited. We already know about the larger Prius V and the Plug-In Prius that offers 15 miles of all-electric range. What we haven’t heard too much about is the smaller, sportier compact Prius. Well now the rumor mill is churning, and the compact Prius reportedly could offer up to 94 mpg.

This info comes from the Nikkei, via The Truth About Cars. This compact hybrid will debut in January with a fuel consumption of 40 kms per liter on the Japanese testing standard. TTAC says that a straight conversion not using the EPA’s method would calculate out to about 94 mpg. That’s freakin’ efficient, but not even the best part.

No, the best part is that this super high-mileage compact hybrid will cost as much as $4,000 less than the standard Prius it shares a powertrain with.A brand new Prius has a starting MSRP of around $22,120, which would put this compact hybrid somewhere in the $18,000 range. It would be the cheapest hybrid on the market. There’s no word on whether the “Aqua” as it is referred to will be Japanese only, or would be coming to America as well.

I never thought I’d get excited for a Prius. Really. But I may have to eat my words if Toyota can pull a sporty-looking compact coupe that gets 94 mpg out of its hat.

Source: The Truth About Cars

Chris DeMorro is a writer and gearhead who loves all things automotive, from hybrids to HEMIs. You can read about his slow descent into madness at Sublime Burnout or follow his non-nonsensical ramblings on Twitter @harshcougar.

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Tags: 94 mpg, C concept, compact prius, hybrid, japan, prius c, prius coupe, prius plug-in, Prius V, Toyota Prius

About the Author

Christopher DeMorro A writer and gearhead who loves all things automotive, from hybrids to HEMIs, Chris can be found wrenching or writing- or esle, he's running, because he's one of those crazy people who gets enjoyment from running insane distances.

http://Web Tim Cleland

If true, this would be a game changer. It would not only trump all other hybrids on the market, but I think it would be the death knell for electric cars as well. Who would pay $30-40K for an electric car when you could buy one of these and go 500 miles on
less than 6 gallons of gas?
- Boynee
  
  Yes! Sign me up for one!
http://Web Nixon

Why isn’t the huge title on this story “Current Prius gets 75 MPG!!!!” (according to Japanese MPG test cycle).

I hate it when people fail to understand exactly how different the Japanese MPG testing is compared to EPA MPG numbers. I hate it even worse when people acknowledge there is a difference, but then blast huge article titles with silly numbers that will in no way be anywhere near EPA numbers, just to sensationalize the story.

Here is some simple math. In the original story, the numbers given were 40 Km per liter for this new car, and 32 Km per liter for the Prius.

First, let’s convert both of these numbers to US Miles Per Gallon. This is just a mathematical conversion:

Current Prius: 32 Km per Liter == 75 MPG(US)
Smaller Prius: 40 Km per Liter == 94 MPG(US)

The first thing that should jump out as a huge red warning flag, is that according to the Japanese test, the current Prius gets scored at 75 MPG when according to the EPA test it only gets scored at 50 MPG.

Now let’s do some guestimating based upon ratios. Using the numbers from the story, the new smaller Prius gets 25.333% better MPG than the current Prius. Now apply this ratio to our known EPA numbers for the current Prius of 50 MG combined.

The result is that the new smaller Prius will come in at about 63 MPG in the EPA cycle.

“Toyota Prepping 63 MPG (US EPA rated) Compact Hybrid?” might not be as sensational a story title as the jaw-dropping 94 MPG number. But it would be a much more accurate title for a story intended to be read primarily by North American market readers (instead of Japanese readers).

Sorry to annoy you again Chris….
- http://www.sublimeburnout.com Christopher DeMorro
  
  @ Nixon
  
  The honest answer? The bigger the number, the more eyeballs it draws.
  
  You’re right about everything in your post., including the sensationalizing. Indeed, there are a lot of grey areas in automotive journalism ethics, one of those being the conversion of MPG numbers.
  
  That said, your commentary really is spot on, and I can’t argue with it. In the future, however, I will take the time to be more in-depth with these sort of stories because really, there is no excuse ‘cept I want more eyeballs on my stories.
  - http://Web Nixon
    
    Thanks. Now if we could only convince Bertel Schmitt over at “The Truth about Cars” to agree to do the same. He was the first to make the mistake in the original story you linked to….
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