Test drive by a technology pioneer: the Toyota Prius after its premiere in Japan (1997).
Photo: The Asahi Shimbun / Getty ImagesThe Prius deserves a little more pathos: "Time to say goodbye," it says succinctly on the Toyota website.
In Germany, a car that has made history and whose importance can hardly be overestimated is now being sold - as a pioneer of fuel-efficient and low-emission hybrid drive technology consisting of gasoline and electric motors. More than 20 years ago, the Toyota Prius shook up the industry, especially in Germany, as only Tesla has since succeeded.
In this country, however, the car was recently hardly in demand, only 317 Prius units were sold in the first seven months of 2020. Not enough, Toyota decided. The consequence: The Prius can no longer be ordered, only the remaining stocks of the dealers are still sold.
The hybrid model has been delivered in Germany since February 2001, after the car started in Japan in 1997. The sales figures in this country were never great, the car did not get more than 4577 new registrations in 2007. But for managers in the German auto industry, the Prius, marketed as particularly environmentally friendly, was a provocation, as it embodied an alternative to their convictions.
This is how the VW boss at the time, Bernd Pischetsrieder, etched in the direction of Toyota in 2004: "The laws of physics and chemistry will not change even the best Progapanda". In general, hybrid drives are "a single ecological catastrophe". At events by other German manufacturers, engineers could also be heard mocking that it could only be second-rate technology if two engines were needed. Business economists blasphemed that Toyota would "never make money" with the Prius.
The competition was all the more stubborn on diesel
It is true that the car was initially in deficit. "The Prius has been making a profit since 2001," said Takeshi Uchiymada, chief engineer of the first generation of Prius, who later became director of production and vice president of Toyota. The decisive factor at the time: Toyota switched the metal hybrid battery from cylindrical to rectangular cells, which significantly reduced production costs and price. This drove the Prius into the black.
At least in part, the superiority poses of German and international car bosses should distract from their own failures. After all, it was not entirely for nothing that the economical hybrid drive of the Prius was named "Engine of the Year" in 2004, and the vehicle was named "Car of the Year" in Europe in 2005 - by juries of international journalists. That annoyed all those who praised the diesel drive as a future technology and from then on relied on it even more stubbornly - sometimes using fraudulent methods, as is now known. It was already clear then that the Toyota hybrid drive emits practically no soot particles and around 80 percent fewer nitrogen oxides compared to a diesel engine with a similar output.
Powertrain of the fourth generation Prius. The battery is located under the back seat.
Photo: ToyotaThe technical highlight was not that the Prius could drive electrically. He usually only did that in the 30 km / h zone or when maneuvering. The economy stems from the fact that the hybrid technology recovered a large part of the energy that would otherwise be lost as heat on the brake discs as electricity, stored it in the battery and used it to relieve the gasoline engine.
Popularity is waning
"The appraisal with which some people initially dismissed Toyota's hybrid technology was wrong," says automotive expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer. "The fact that the Toyota Prius was never really successful in Germany despite its role as an innovator was probably due to the fact that the car caused practically no emotions. Toyota built a breakthrough car, but failed to market it adequately."
At the end of July, Toyota announced that the company had now sold more than three million hybrid vehicles in Europe - and more than 15 million worldwide. In Japan, the Prius was the best-selling car in 2019. In the USA, it was number one in the list of best-selling hybrid models for years (2012: 236,655 copies). In the US state of California it was at times the best-selling car. There, in particular, the car has long been considered a statement of greater environmental awareness - not least because Hollywood stars like Cameron Diaz, Leonardo DiCaprio and Harrison Ford Prius drove. In the meantime, the Prius is also waning in the USA. Last year almost 70,000 copies were sold there, and around 25,000 in the first seven months of this year.
Electric cars are a problem for the Prius
This is mainly due to the next big thing in industry - the electric car that can be charged from the socket. And it is because Toyota itself is digging the Prius customers by offering more and more series of the group with hybrid drive, including small cars, SUVs, sedans, compact cars and station wagons. However, the Prius made this success possible at all. With it, the electrification of the powertrain began on a large scale, now it is the car's undoing.
The Prius definitely had weaknesses. The first generation looked so unattractive and squeaky that you could almost feel sorry for them: a plump limousine with tired headlight eyes on 14-inch wheels. The later generations received a more handsome design, but the Prius never became really chic or elegant. The so-called rubber band effect was also annoying: when accelerating, the speed and engine noise increased spontaneously, but noticeable acceleration only occurred after a significant delay. This was what the developers wanted, because the combustion engine always worked with optimum efficiency. But what was good for consumption and exhaust gas values drove some HP-accustomed car testers and probably also Prius owners on the palm.
Toyota relies on hydrogen
On the other hand, the Toyota Prius always offered decent driving comfort, the space was - measured by the external dimensions - generous and the hybrid system was continuously improved:
In generation one (from 1997) the hybrid drive developed 98 hp, the electric drive worked with 288 volts and the nickel-metal hydride battery weighed 70 kilograms.
In generation two (from 2003) the drive developed 113 hp, the voltage rose to 500 volts and the weight of the battery had been reduced to 48 kilograms.
In generation three (from 2009) the system output was 136 hp, the electric drive worked with 650 volts and the battery weighed 39 kilograms.
The current, fourth generation (from 2016) drives with 122 HP system power and now has a lithium-ion battery that weighs 25 kilograms and fits under the back seat. Consumption, measured according to the comparatively realistic WLTP standard, is 4.6 liters of petrol per 100 kilometers and CO2 emissions are 104 g / km.
The model will continue to be offered in other European countries, worldwide anyway. The Prius plug-in hybrid is still on offer in this country. It looks a little different than the classic model and has a charging socket for external power supply. The federal government and manufacturers are promoting the purchase of plug-in hybrid models with a total of up to 6750 euros. Toyota hopes to be able to sell a total of 400 copies this year thanks to the grant. The car is supposed to compensate a little with the fact that Toyota overslept the trend towards purely electric cars.
The manufacturer sees a successor to the Prius as a technology carrier in the Mirai, a fuel cell car. Introduced five years ago, it is now sold to private customers from around 76,000 euros.
One of his technical fathers is Katsuhiko Hirose. The man knows how to design technological spearheads. Hirose is also known in Japan as "Mister Hybrid" - he was already part of the Toyota Prius development team.
Icon: The mirror
