Toyota Yaris Hybrid Makes its Debut

Jan 13 2012

Since it was first released in the UK a number of years ago, tens of thousands of Britons have signed up for car loans on the very popular Toyota Yaris.  Talks about a hybrid version of the car has been doing the rounds lately and we can now confirm that this is, in fact, the truth.

Toyota has officially announced the brand new Yaris Hybrid and the car will make its debut at the Geneva Motor Show two months from now.  It will be the first super-mini hybrid car in automotive history.  The drive-train of the car is similar to what we have seen in the Toyota Auris.

The Hybrid Synergy Drive power-train has been redesigned by Toyota engineers to make it smaller so it would fit within the Yaris.  It consists of a 1.5-litre petrol engine combined with an electric motor with a small battery pack that is 20% lighter than that used in the current Auris.

Maximum power output is 98bhp.  The car is a front wheel drive using Toyota’s e-CVT automatic transmission.

The new battery pack is small enough to fit under the car’s rear seats, leaving the full 286 litres of luggage space available for what it was originally intended – unlike the Yaris where the battery pack takes up a lot of space in the boot.

Toyota has not yet published any fuel economy or emission figures for the new car, neither do we know what the car’s range will be, but expect it to be among the best in the super-mini category.
 

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