Toyota’s next-generation 2016 Prius has been nabbed undisguised ahead of a planned reveal on September 8 and a world premiere at the Frankfurt Motor Show the following week.
As anticipated, the exterior styling of the new Prius is heavily inspired by the Japanese firm’s Mirai hydrogen model, especially from the B-column and back, while keeping the current model’s pointy snout adorned with Toyota’s new styling DNA.
Under the fresh metalwork, you’ll find the brand’s new Toyota New Global Architecture (TGNA), a modular platform that’s not only lighter, but also stiffer with a lower center of gravity.
Toyota has yet to provide specific details about the powertrain options for the new Prius, but it has said that it will offer a more compact and efficient hybrid powertrain pairing an improved gasoline motor (likely an evolved 1.8-liter unit) to new electric motors with higher-power density and a CVT driving the front wheels. The Japanese brand is promising a 10% improvement on its fuel economy.
We’ll also see a plug-in hybrid variant that will return a significantly longer battery-only range than the current model’s 11 miles.
Pics via Prius Club Malaysia , H/T to Worldcarfans!
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