据外媒最新报道,由于丰田高管未批准下一代普锐斯最初设计,新车将推迟至今年底上市。丰田最初计划于明年春季投产下一代普锐斯，但现在投产时间将推迟约一年。最主要的原因是丰田全球研发主管加藤光久(Mitsuhisa Kato) 不仅对新款普锐斯的设计不太满意，同时还包括一些技术方面的问题，不过他拒绝透露具体原因。因此，丰田新款普锐斯最快将于明年12月才能正式投产。内部编号690A的新一代普锐斯将配备取自TS040 HYBRID的微芯片和微控制器并很有可能既提供镍氢电池也提供锂电池，不过后者成本更高，但续航里程更长。据丰田动力总成高级经理光荣佐贺(Koei Saga)表示，新款普锐斯或将提供全轮驱动系统作为可选装备，且汽油引擎的热效率将从原来的38.5%提示至40%。与此同时，新款普锐斯将基于丰田最新的TNGA平台研发，车重将降低20%左右，车辆重心也会得以降低，燃油经济性将提升8-10%。新一代普锐斯将于明年上半年发布，随后将于年底在日本投产。
Next-gen Toyota Prius launch pushed back until late 2015 due to design problem
A new report indicates the launch of the next generation Prius has been delayed because a Toyota executive didn't like the original design.
The all-new Prius was originally scheduled to enter production in the spring of 2015 but now it's programmed to reach the assembly line approximately a year from now. The significant delay has to do with an unexpected redesign after Toyota's global research & development chief Mitsuhisa Kato was not satisfied with the work of chief engineer Koji Toyoshima.
Aside from the design issue, Kato mentioned other problems led to the delay but he refused to go into details. However, several months ago we heard Toyota decided to push back the launch until December 2015 to make sure all chassis and body issues are fixed.
Codenamed 690A, the new Prius will use microchips and microcontrollers tested in the TS040 HYBRID and will likely be available with both nickel-metal hydride and lithium-ion batteries, with the latter being more expensive and providing a higher range. Toyota powertrain boss Koei Saga previously stated the possibility of an optional all-wheel drive system while the thermal efficiency of the gasoline engine will be increased from 38.5 percent to more than 40 percent.
The 2016 Prius will ride on the Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA) and is expected to lose about 20 percent of its weight and adopt a lower center of gravity while fuel economy will be boosted between 8 to 10 percent.
A full reveal will likely occur in the first half of 2015, with production slated to kick off in Japan before the year's end.