Meet the new Prius
(Credit:
CNET Networks)
Toyota showed off a new concept, the Hybrid X, at the 2007 Geneva auto show, which looks like a new incarnation of the Prius. Toyota isn't even suggesting that Hybrid X is the design direction for Prius, but the company says the new concept "proposes creative solutions that will themselves potentially become the signature points of a specific hybrid identity." The Prius is also uniquely a hybrid, with no conventional engined counterpart.
(Credit:
CNET Networks)
The Hybrid X shows off a few fun concept technologies, such as rear suicide doors that open electronically, as well as LED headlights that mount to the dash and are visible through transparent body panels. The headlights are programmed to flash specific patterns that can communicate whether the car is stopping or accelerating. Which, we assume, will require a new signaling language similar to semaphore. The driver gets two LCD screens, one for energy flow information and the other for navigation, while a third LCD, used for controlling entertainment and climate, sits in the center stack. Toyota calls the car the Hybrid X because the A and C pillars reach across the top of the car and form two opposing U-shapes, which together might suggest an X. We would have preferred Hybrid W, as in double-U.
