Hybrid cars is a hot research topic to fight alarming pollution levels, even with extensive research and quality assurance testing on these vehicles, the multi fuel segments have not created a strong impact in India. The Prius model of Toyota which is a pioneering car in this category has created 163 purchasers in India since its launch in Jan 2010.

On a global segment, Toyota has managed to release 1.3 million hybrid models which are around 14% of the overall sales of hybrid vehicles. The early phase of July witnessed 3 million Prius models being sold on a global scale since 1997 when first launched.  Car buyers in India are not comfortable with releasing 25-30% of their payment to buy cars designed with gasoline and electric technology. These cars churn magnificent mileage of 45 Kmpl; the Indian Prius is priced at Rs 29. 5 lakhs because of additional custom duty charges.
Besides Toyota, Honda has also worked on hybrid models; the company is the first to explore this segment with hybrid Civic 4 years ago. Honda has managed to roll out only 60 parts of the car which is priced at Rs 21.5 lakhs; this is prior to the Rs 8 lakh reductions to tide away from the 240 inventory parts.

According to a top professional service network firm, the trend to pay higher sums for Indian electric or hybrid cars is on a lesser scale, even with the lower pollution and higher mileage figures. With the increase in fuel prices, the public favors alternative fuels at attractive pricings. Hybrid car demands are not going to rise to significant levels. Despite the lethargic demand for hybrid cars, the Indian government aims to focus on localizing these products. The Central Government has provided allowances to import hybrid car segments, and also planned for a whooping Rs 13,000 crore investments for the coming 6 years in order to elevate the image of hybrid car industry, while pushing car companies to focus on this segment. Toyota has now sold nineteen hybrid cars on a global scale, and is seeking localization options to build these models.
The Prius model of Toyota is a classic hybrid car that operates on petrol power train and electric motor. For the Indian market, the firm has introduced two trim variants in the interiors such as Toyota Prius Z4 and Z3. The Z3 is offered with premium fabric seats with no seat warmers, the Z4 is fitted with seat warmer and leather upholstery.

The car is equipped with a 1.8 liter petrol mill with 2ZR FXE technology, with four cylinders, the line twin cam version is fitted with 16 valve VVT-I technology that churns impressive efficiencies of 73 kw highest power and peak torque of 142Nm.

The electric motor capacity id 650V and is manufactured from pure magnet, this motor can deliver highest power of 60 kw and highest torque of 207Nm. The battery is called nickel metal hydride which can last at 6.5 Ah for 2 hours. The power from petrol engine and electric motor combined is estimated to be 100 kw.  For optimum operation of petrol and electric power, Toyota has introduced the cutting edge Hybrid Synergy Drive technology which caters to impeccable mileage with impressively low exhaust emission levels, incredible super swift acceleration and marvelous performance.

Let’s hope hybrid vehicles are manufactured on a large scale in India, to fight increased pollution levels.

Tagged: Toyota Prius