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By
EWAN KENNEDY
13 October 2008
It comes as no surprise that environmental care and
low-consumption vehicles are major themes of the Australia
International Motor Show in Sydney. And even less of a surprise
that Toyota, the world leader in hybrid vehicles, had an
impressive display giving us a glimpse into the future.
Keen to show that
hybrids can be more than simply economy vehicles, Toyota flew its
race winning Supra GT HR-V hybrid to Sydney for the show. This
vehicle claimed the first ever race victory of a petrol-electric
hybrid car, at the Tokachi circuit in Japan in 2007.
The concept behind
this Supra is simple, every time the brakes are applied in the
Toyota Supra HR-V, energy that would normally have been turned
into heat and lost into the atmosphere is instead converted into
electricity. That electricity is stored in super capacitors (a
type of battery) so that it can later be used to accelerate the
car. As well as the V8 petrol engine driving the back wheels, the
Supra HR-V uses three electric motors, one within each front wheel
and a third between the rear wheels. The petrol engine in the
Supra HR-V isn’t used to directly charge the ‘battery’ as is
done in the Prius.
Toyota Hybrid X is an
altogether different vehicle. Positively futuristic in its shape
both inside and out, it’s a medium-large vehicle with stretch
out room inside. Toyota won’t thank us for saying this, but its
space-saving seats are the most uncomfortable we have ever
sampled. Style has obviously overtaken comfort and we presume they
won’t make it into a production version of the car.
Great styling features
include LED headlights that sit beneath the front corners of the
dashboard and shine through a windscreen that has been extended to
cater for them.
A racing-car type
steering wheel has a central hub that displays power flow within
the hybrid system to encourage the driver to get the best from a
car that’s already exceptionally economical.
Way out as it is
visually, the Toyota Hybrid X may well hold strong clues as to the
styling of the next-generation Toyota Prius.
Finally, the highlight
of the display was an example of the Toyota Camry hybrid that’s
to be built in Australia from 2010. Perhaps it’s not as exciting
as the GT HR-V or Hybrid X, but this is a fuel-saving vehicle that
will be on sale to the general public at what's anticipated to be
a pretty reasonable price.
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Marque Publishing Company
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