TOYOTA Yaris Hybrid

 

Launched last year, the new Toyota Yaris is available in petrol, diesel and, from June, gasoline / electric hybrid. When we tested the new car back in August, we decided that, although it was quite comfortable, was not there in the Parthenon designing small cars. Impressive, though, Toyota design philosophy of "Genius" has allowed engineers to shoehorn hybrid system much changed under the hood and the rear seats, so there is space in the cabin or the boot volume , pain in the choice of gasoline / electric Yaris.Compared to the Prius, the Yaris Hybrid System is 440 pounds (20 percent) less. There are two new engines in the system, which reduce the size and mass of the hybrid transaxle. The electronics of the gasoline engine, transmission and power under the hood, and a new battery smaller and lighter is mounted in collaboration with the tank under the rear seats.In the cabin, there are a handful of changes: a Prius-style "Instrumentation" which shows the energy flow in the powertrain, cutting a blue shift to electronic touch screen with Toyota light blue and pale a couple of extra buttons close by the shift lever for Echo mode and electric vehicles.Until you are on a traffic light Grand Prix, he fled from a time in silence using only the battery, and has a range of 1.2 EV miles. Weighs about 20 percent higher than normal gasoline Yaris, instead, so that the gasoline engine is pushed into the life fast enough to maintain performance.You can guess the weight, too, with a sense of direction a little heavy "and manipulation, but it should be agile enough for most owners and control of the damping feels positive and roll well contained. Management intends to make a lot of twirling, but it is well calibrated for use in the city. Toyota engineers have discussed the control of motor speed to reduce the ripple effect that afflicts so elastic that the Prius. By limiting the acceleration torque and the amount of overshoot / braking effect, tried to make the motor speed more accurately corresponds to the speed. On our short drive, it seemed as if they had a partial success, and there is a trick to keep quiet and refined.
The price is, of course, the key to making this call technology for consumers.When it goes on sale in June, will cost around £ 15,000. This is roughly the same as a 1.4 liter diesel Yaris with a continuously variable transmission, and against undercuts rival Honda Jazz hybrid to be well over £ 1,000. Toyota calculates the hybrid will occupy about 20 percent of all sales of the Yaris, but is it true?

Didier Leroy, head of Toyota Motor Europe, said that customers who are more than 15,500 kilometers per year over three years, the hybrid will be cheaper than diesel. What is not said is how you stand compared to gasoline models. You will need to do a lot of miles on Yaris hybrid to justify the price and how the majority of customers are less than 10,000 miles a year in this class of car, the benefits are likely to be seen by a mileage high rather than just more.