Keeping to protocol

By ALASTAIR SLOANE

Awhile back, Toyota's head office in Tokyo set its monthly international sales target for the second-generation petrol/electric Prius sedan at 3080 units, most of them in Japan and the United States.

It launched the car in Japan on September 1 and staggered launches in America, Europe and Australia throughout the month.

By September 30, it had received 17,508 orders - more than five-and-a-half times its forecast.

Demand for the car in bigger markets is why New Zealand will get only 20 Prius models before the end of the year.

The hybrid five-seater, one of many petrol/electric vehicles in Toyota's future, was launched in Wellington 48 hours ago, priced at $43,500.

Toyota New Zealand said the small sales volume would not allow the company to recover its costs in the short term. However, it hoped to be able to sell 20 cars a month within 12 months.

TNZ chairman Bob Field said a key justification for the introduction of the car was the New Zealand Government's commitment to the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.

"We are able to launch Prius because Toyota also has a commitment to the environment, which looks well beyond the present-day financial return," Field said.

Since the first-generation Toyota Prius hybrid car was launched in 1997, more than 120,000 have been sold, mostly in the United States and Japan.

Toyota has 90 per cent of the world market for this type of vehicle. Honda has most of the remaining 10 per cent.

Toyota says the Prius - Latin for "to go before" - is the car of the future and its Hybrid Synergy Drive system will play a pivotal role in the transition to sustainable mobility in future years.

The hybrid system consists of a conventional 16-valve 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine and an electric motor/generator mated to an automatic gearbox. The car can run on either its engine, its electric motor, or a combination of both.

The ratio of power provided by each system is constantly monitored, depending on speed and load, to keep the car in its most efficient operating mode.

At low speeds it uses its electric motor, like a golf cart. At traffic lights, for example, the engine automatically cuts out and restarts when the driver presses the accelerator to move off. Under load, or at faster speeds, the engine takes over. The system recharges itself during the drive.

Toyota says it has raised the voltage of the hybrid system and improved the battery to give the new Prius the power of a conventional 2.4-litre engine.

The 1.5-litre engine produces 57kW at 5000rpm and 115Nm at 4000rpm. The electric motor generates a further 50kW between 1200-1540rpm and 400Nm of torque up to 1200rpm.

Exhaust emissions are nearly 90 per cent less than those from a similarly sized car powered by a conventional petrol engine, and fuel consumption is about 5-litres/100km (56mpg), says Toyota.

The Prius accelerates from zero to 100km/h in under 10 seconds - faster than many petrol-powered cars. Toyota says it has a range of around 900km from its 45-litre fuel tank.