Zoomi Life

The Toyota Prius 2010 model was officially unveiled at the NAIS Detroit Auto Show this morning, though pictures of the car had been leaked a couple of months ago and confirmed by Toyota.

Along with a new design, which is much closer to the popular Corolla model, the Prius sees some other improvements as well. The greatest of those is an efficiency boost: up to 53mpg, by all reports. No EPA numbers are available yet and the company is only releasing estimates right now. Over 50 is the key here.

The new car also sees some other performance boosts: more power under the hood (from 1.5L to 1.8), a solar sun roof to power the climate controls (heating and A/C), plug-in electric charging, and a new three-mode selectable driving style: EV, ECON, and POWER.

In EV mode, the car is a pure EV, running on electricity-only until it either runs low on juice or the driver changes modes. The 2010 Prius will be able to travel about 25-30 miles on a charge under normal conditions. For in-city commuters and short-distance drivers, this means that little or no gasoline could ever run through the car at all.

In ECON mode, the Prius utilizes both electric and gasoline power to drive, depending on what the situation warrants, and limits the power to the accelerator, giving slower pick-up and doing other things to maximize fuel economy. For most normal drivers, the only difference between the Prius of today and the 2010 will be this apparent loss of power starting from a stop when in ECON. This is what is responsible for the higher mpg ratings, which are measured in this mode (and don’t account for EV-only).

Finally, in POWER mode, the car has it’s full 1.8 liters of power and acceleration, dumping fuel economy for performance. For street racers, people who want to jump ahead of someone on the highway, or those who just don’t care about the Prius’ economy, this is the setting. No word on the mpg numbers here, but they’re probably similar to other cars of the same size with the same kind of performance, like the Corolla or Camry.

The interior sees some improvements as well, with slightly larger cargo space, a centralized dashboard interface, a more ergonomic “sporty” shifter handle, and improved aerodynamics.

All in all, the Prius is changing in subtle ways that improve the car and fix some of its first generation customer complaints. Toyota promises more hard numbers after EPA testing and other things have been completed sometime this year.

UPDATE: Here’s a video of the Prius being unveiled that we just found on YouTube:

[Show as slideshow]

Sources: 1, 2