Watch out, the Prius drops its top!

Toyota Aqua Air Concept 2013
Toyota Aqua Air Concept 2013
Toyota Aqua Air Concept 2013 interior
Toyota Aqua Air Concept 2013 interior

Toyota’s Prius has had a long road of incremental, benign changes over the decade.  The quaint hybrid that started the revolution has always one one serious drawback — no convertible available.

 

Toyota’s Prius Drops its Top for the Tokyo Auto Show.

If there has been one steady and stable car brand, the Prius has certainly achieved this, as well as become the poster child for an ever vocal who’s who of the modern day entertainment world.  If its seat have become recyclable and today the Prius sports no less than models to choose from, one thing the Prius never embraced, besides a slow reluctance to luthium and a rechargeable version, was also a convertible.

 

Will The Aqua Air Take Off?

Toyota has been a steady and practical company when it comes to the arrangement of its portfolio and any eventual upgrades.  The Prius hasn’t been the fastest developing car, a privilege only the top manufacturers can afford.  It has incrementally and slowly updated superficially here and there.  Considering the Prius found its nesting root in California, it would make sense to have a convertible version.  After all, every new cars these days have some sort of top off feature, Fiat 500, BMW Mini, and more.

Toyota Aqua Air Concept 2013
Toyota Aqua Air Concept 2013

 

What’s Under The Hood?

The Aqua Air will use the same underpinning as the Prius C, namely the 1.5-liter Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder gasoline engine and put out about 100 HP.  The intelligent use of the company’s e-CVT epicyclic transmission gives the Aqua Air an impressive economy, roughly 80 mpg on the Japanese cycle.  We can assume a more likely real-world 50 mpg.

Hat Tip Green Car Report.

Nicolas Zart
Born and raised around classic cars, it wasn't until Nicolas drove an AC Proulsion eBox and a Tesla Roadster that the light went on. Eager to spread the news about those amazing full torque electric vehicles, he started writing about this amazing technology and its social impacts in 2007. Today, Nicolas covers renewable energy, test drives cars, does podcasts and films. Nicolas offers an in-depth look at the e-mobility world through interviews and the many contacts he made in those industries. His articles are also published on Teslrati, CleanTechnica, the Beverly Hills Car Club and Medium. "There are more solutions than obstacles." Nicolas Zart