In preparation for the global launch of the much-anticipated 2010 Prius hybrid, informally referred to as “Generation III” or “Gen III”, Toyota has been staging a series of media briefings, bringing in key engineers from Japan as well as its North American technical center in Southern California, to discuss technical improvements of the new hybrid over its immediate predecessor, the 2004-2009 Generation II Prius. Toyota also previewed the vehicle this weekend in Los Angeles via its “Prius Connection” program for select early adopters and enthusiast forum participants, attracting potential buyers from across the US and Canada. The Gen III Prius offers an EPA-rated combined cycle fuel economy of 50 mpg (now revealed to comprise 50 mpg city and 49 mpg highway). This is about a 10% improvement in EPA-rated combined cycle fuel economy over the older generation. Of that 10% improvement, about 6% can be attributed to the new hybrid system (including the larger combustion engine) and about 4% to efficiency improvements in other aspects of the vehicle, such as better aerodynamics, said Chief Engineer Akihiko Otsuka.
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