Hybrid Auris Also Due Soon

[fuel miser]

Toyota are launching a hybrid version of the Auris model, due later this year and to be built here in the UK. It will have the new 1.8 engine, electric motor and Battery technology from the new Prius. This model will compete on price with the Honda Insight. Honda are developing a hybrid Jazz model, so it's likely a hybrid Yaris will also be due in the future.

My thoughts on the hybrid Auris are that I suspect the boot space may be rather compromised by the batteries, due to the fact that the car wasn't specifically developed as a hybrid (unlike the Prius which is hybrid only). They'll also have to design an electronic dash/info display for this car to replace the standard conventional one.

More info detailed in link..............

http://www.carsuk.net/toyota-auris-hybrid-in-the-uk/

Edit:- If you scroll down that link, there's an interesting debate with a Prius owner defending his choice of transport against the usual guff you see written about the Prius. Shall we all wade in with our comments?

[Mkuk0]

Fair play to the guy, he stood his ground. I have shoved my two bobs worth in too.

[Ogo]

Toyota are launching a hybrid version of the Auris model, due later this year and to be built here in the UK. It will have the new 1.8 engine, electric motor and battery technology from the new Prius. This model will compete on price with the Honda Insight. Honda are developing a hybrid Jazz model, so it's likely a hybrid Yaris will also be due in the future.

My thoughts on the hybrid Auris are that I suspect the boot space may be rather compromised by the batteries, due to the fact that the car wasn't specifically developed as a hybrid (unlike the Prius which is hybrid only). They'll also have to design an electronic dash/info display for this car to replace the standard conventional one.

More info detailed in link..............

http://www.carsuk.net/toyota-auris-hybrid-in-the-uk/

Edit:- If you scroll down that link, there's an interesting debate with a Prius owner defending his choice of transport against the usual guff you see written about the Prius. Shall we all wade in with our comments?

I doubt there will be a Hybrid Auris out there especially this year. There is only a rumor, that Hybrid Yaris is being developed for the time when new Yaris will be out in few years time.

Otherwise my opinion is, that current Auris has quite inefficient aerodynamic design and even if they launch hybrid version, fuel consumption and emissions will suffer compared to a Prius.

[fuel miser]

The hybrid Auris will be due for launch in October and priced from around £16k according to Autocar.

Interesting article about UK hybrid production in the Times.............

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/busi...icle6590907.ece

Edit:- Hi Ogo, welcome to the forum. You posted whilst I was trying to put this on here. I don't think it's a rumour, it's been widely reported for a while now. A hybrid Auris would certainly make sense, providing, as I said earlier, it still has a usable boot. It would challenge the Honda Insight head on with it's price, and be a much better car than an Insight. As it would be smaller and lighter than the Prius, I don't think the aerodynamics will be such a massive factor, and they're probably not even that bad anyway. It's reported that fuel consumption and Co2 emissions will better the new Prius.

A hybrid Yaris is some time away yet, but one will be sure to arrive. My guess is a hybrid Rav 4 will be out long before a hybrid Yaris.

[Ogo]

The hybrid Auris will be due for launch in October and priced from around £16k according to Autocar.

Interesting article about UK hybrid production in the Times.............

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/busi...icle6590907.ece

Edit:- Hi Ogo, welcome to the forum. You posted whilst I was trying to put this on here. I don't think it's a rumour, it's been widely reported for a while now. A hybrid Auris would certainly make sense, providing, as I said earlier, it still has a usable boot. It would challenge the Honda Insight head on with it's price, and be a much better car than an Insight. As it would be smaller and lighter than the Prius, I don't think the aerodynamics will be such a massive factor, and they're probably not even that bad anyway. It's reported that fuel consumption and Co2 emissions will better the new Prius.

A hybrid Yaris is some time away yet, but one will be sure to arrive. My guess is a hybrid Rav 4 will be out long before a hybrid Yaris.

Well, I drove Yaris diesel and now I have a Prius, and I can see that weight is just one of the factors in fuel consumption. The biggest being aerodynamics, especially if you make fair ammounts of your commutes on highways. I moved from first model of Yaris to the second one. And second one due to its height, size and aerodynamics had worse fuel consumption than the first model. Now being on Prius, I can actually glide even at 130 km/h on downslopes, while Yaris was behaving like a parachute at same speed and road. :)

Prius was alway optimized for low consumption and low emissions starting with first model a decade ago, which was ugly as hell. :) Yaris and its bigger brother Auris newer were optimized for this and in my opinion Auris has an only chance as a lower priced car than Prius. Basically bringing hybrids to the masses due to its lower price and maybe even killing the diesel engine and its very bad emissions. But will probably not kill any consumption and emissions records Prius has. Unless they do quite a redesign and optimizations on the Auris.

Let's wait few months and see. More hybrid choices we get, better we are.

Ogo

[fuel miser]

The hybrid Auris will be due for launch in October and priced from around £16k according to Autocar.

Interesting article about UK hybrid production in the Times.............

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/busi...icle6590907.ece

Edit:- Hi Ogo, welcome to the forum. You posted whilst I was trying to put this on here. I don't think it's a rumour, it's been widely reported for a while now. A hybrid Auris would certainly make sense, providing, as I said earlier, it still has a usable boot. It would challenge the Honda Insight head on with it's price, and be a much better car than an Insight. As it would be smaller and lighter than the Prius, I don't think the aerodynamics will be such a massive factor, and they're probably not even that bad anyway. It's reported that fuel consumption and Co2 emissions will better the new Prius.

A hybrid Yaris is some time away yet, but one will be sure to arrive. My guess is a hybrid Rav 4 will be out long before a hybrid Yaris.

Well, I drove Yaris diesel and now I have a Prius, and I can see that weight is just one of the factors in fuel consumption. The biggest being aerodynamics, especially if you make fair ammounts of your commutes on highways. I moved from first model of Yaris to the second one. And second one due to its height, size and aerodynamics had worse fuel consumption than the first model. Now being on Prius, I can actually glide even at 130 km/h on downslopes, while Yaris was behaving like a parachute at same speed and road. :)

Prius was alway optimized for low consumption and low emissions starting with first model a decade ago, which was ugly as hell. :) Yaris and its bigger brother Auris newer were optimized for this and in my opinion Auris has an only chance as a lower priced car than Prius. Basically bringing hybrids to the masses due to its lower price and maybe even killing the diesel engine and its very bad emissions. But will probably not kill any consumption and emissions records Prius has. Unless they do quite a redesign and optimizations on the Auris.

Let's wait few months and see. More hybrid choices we get, better we are.

Ogo

There's an awful lot of other factors to take into account as well as aerodynamics, if you're judging one car against anothers 'cruising downhill' ability. A heavier car would always have an advantage in this respect. So would low rolling resistance tyres, the cars gearing, and the braking resistance of the engine. A diesel car has a much higher compression engine than a petrol car, and that would always increase the braking effect. Your Mk 2 Yaris had 20% more power than the Mk 1 Yaris, and as you say, was quite a bit bigger/heavier, I would therefore expect it to use a little more fuel in general use. Also, as for aerodynamics, it's actually easier to have a lower drag coefficient the longer the car is, so again I would expect a Prius to be more aerodynamic than an Auris, because it is easier to design it that way.

So no, an Auris may not be as aerodynamic as a Prius, but using, as it will, the very same engine/electric motor and Battery pack as the new Prius, that does not necessarily mean that the Auris would therefore be less economical. All the reports I've read say otherwise, including the first one I linked in this thread.

[Ogo]

Ok, Hybrid Auris seems to be confirmed, but for 2012 not for 2009.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8150289.stm

http://www.reuters.com/article/reuterscomS...E56D0DR20090714

Ogo

[fuel miser]

Ok, Hybrid Auris seems to be confirmed, but for 2012 not for 2009.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8150289.stm

http://www.reuters.com/article/reuterscomS...E56D0DR20090714

Ogo

So they say, but I think they're wrong, I think it'll be here long before 2012, Autocar have mentioned it a couple of times in recent weeks (they are normally fairly reliable about what's due out and when), and there are other on-line reports stating it will be out this year. The Times on-line atricle also says the car will be in production at Burnaston (Toyota's Derby plant) by the end of the year.

Anyway, I don't think Toyota would be too happy about the Insight dominating the £15-£18k hybrid sector for another three years, they'll want a hybrid Auris out just as soon as possible. Also, by 2012, the current generation Auris (launched 1st Feb 2007) will be getting near replacement, so it wouldn't be worth their while designing a hybrid version of the current model if it wasn't going to be out for another three years. I think, realistically, a launch date this October is optimistic, but I can't imagine it being out later than the early part of next year.

[Ogo]

First, as I never heard real qualified rumors from Toyota personnel about launching Hybrid Auris, this was a bit sort of unexpected news for me. If Hybrid Auris is to be launched this year, this means that they should already have dozen of preproduction vehicles available and being tested on the road, which is not the case. Probably they do not have even the working prototype yet. So everything is still in design phase.

The second problem is, that current Auris is not optimized for Hybrid. And the only way they could make it work so fast it would be to transplant Prius inner workings into Auris, which I think is currently unachievable. So my opinion is, that Hybrid version will be available after Auris complete redesign which is scheduled to happen in next few years. Then they will have a fresh new Auris platform which can be made to accept also hybrid components, like the traction Battery which is not so small, but also other hybrid components beside the internal combustion engine, like the inverter, two electric motors/generators and planetary energy split device and CVT transmission in one component (known as Hybrid Synergy Drive). Toyota/Panasonic probably even have in the development traction Battery with more dense energy ratio to weight and size, which would fit in Auris and maybe even Yaris without seriously compromising luggage/cabin space, but this component is not yet available.

Regarding competition with Honda. It is evident, that Prius is again winning over Insight, which sales have dropped globally after new Prius was launched. The problem of Honda is, that they are doing their hybrid stuff sort of half way. They are cheaper, but customers seem to be more happy forking out 20% more money for a full hybrid as Prius is, opposed to mild hybrids with just electrical motor assist as Insight and Civic Hybrid are.

And I would rather like Toyota to do the works on the Auris Hybrid right, rather than launching some stupid quick compromise which would fail on the market. Even Auris itself is not a big market success. Too many design compromises and conservatism have taken its toll. Even old VW Golf was a better car, and new model is a total winner in this market segment. And Toyota needs to redesign Auris to fight with new market developments and throw away its compromises and conservative design as more competitors will be out in next year or two. And they will not be nor dull, nor conservative, nor bad, nor too expensive.

Ogo

[fuel miser]

Just on BBC News 24, a live report from Burnaston regarding the success of this plant (which Lord Mandelson is visiting today). Toyota have not, so far, had to make any redundancies at the plant (unlike many other UK car production plants). They also talked of a new model being produced there, quote, "A hybrid version of the Auris, which will be on sale next year."

Article here on how Toyota hope to be producing a hybrid version of every model they sell within ten years...........................

http://www.autocar.co.uk/blogs/autocarconf...rid-future.aspx

[Ogo]

There is tons of rumors flying around. As Toyota Corporate have not officialy confirmed Hybrid Auris out for next year, then everything still stays at rumor level.

I believe in Hybrid Auris, but I do not believe it will happen very soon. Development needs time. And in my opinion Hybrid Auris can only happen with Auris platform being redesigned.

Even new Prius was rumored to be out available to customers in mid 2008, but at that time only few preproduction test cars could be seen on the roads around the world. Some things need time. And with world recession looming, some things will probably need some more time.

Ogo

[Devon Aygo]

Well hope this clears up any confusion Toyota released this today:

Toyota to manufacture full hybrid Auris in the United Kingdom

Toyota Motor Europe (TME) today announced plans to manufacture a full hybrid version of its

C-segment hatchback, Auris, at its UK-based facility in Burnaston, Derbyshire. Production of

Toyota’s first European-built full hybrid will kick-off at Toyota Motor Manufacturing (UK) Ltd (TMUK)

in mid-2010. Engines will be produced at TMUK's facility in Deeside, North Wales. The

announcement, which coincided with a site visit by UK First Secretary of State and Secretary of

State for Business, Innovation & Skills Rt. Hon. Lord Mandelson, underlines Toyota’s commitment

to expand its offering of low-emission hybrid vehicles to customers in Europe.

‘With today’s announcement, Toyota has taken a significant step forward in ensuring that full hybrids

become more accessible to a wider range of customers. Such efforts are crucial if we are to see more lowcarbon

vehicles on European roads,’ said Tadashi Arashima, CEO and President, TME.

‘Our decision to produce a full hybrid in the UK reflects both our confidence in the quality and commitment

of the TMUK workforce and the strength of our long-standing partnership with the UK Government. Today’s

announcement is positive for Toyota, our UK suppliers and the local communities here,’ he added.

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said: ‘This is a welcome and forward-looking investment in Britain

from a world class manufacturer. As part of our low carbon industrial strategy we set out to make Britain the

best place in the world to develop low carbon vehicles. These commitments, backed by the formidable

skills of the UK automotive workers enable companies like Toyota to invest with confidence in low carbon

car production in the UK. It demonstrates that the UK's car industry is already making the low carbon

transition.’

The Toyota Auris hit the European market place in spring 2007. Since then, it has sold over 370,000

vehicles. Under the new Toyota Optimal Drive technology, Auris now comes equipped with a 1.33-litre dual

VVT-I engine and Toyota’s Start&Stop technology, reducing CO2 emissions by 17% (135 g/km) and

improving fuel consumption by 19% (48.7 mpg combined cycle).*

TMUK started production in 1992 as Toyota’s first manufacturing company in Europe and today employs

around 4,100 workers. The plant has produced over 2.5 million vehicles to-date, including the Carina E,

Corolla, Avensis and Auris, for sale in Europe and export overseas. TMUK represents a total investment of

over £1.85 billion and is one of nine Toyota manufacturing companies in Greater Europe

[Parts-King]

I have posted the above info in ANOTHER THREAD running on this subject, post number 4

It is being launched MID-2010

As above, it will be built in Burnaston and the engines will be made in Deeside

Kingo