Toyota Auris HSD uses hybrid system from Prius

This Toyota Auris HSD Full Hybrid previews what will be Toyota’s first step in offering a hybrid model for each car they sell in Europe by the early 2020s, and starting out with the Auris HSD makes sense as the 5-door hatchback bodytype is the most popular bodytype in terms of sales in Europe.

But 2020 is a long way to go – will we even be in the position to use ‘hybrid’ cars by then or would we have gone all fuel cell or EV, at least in terms of new vehicles? I believe as long as there are countries where cars have a much longer lifecycle and remain in use for a long time (such as our country), there will be the need to have fuel stations that serve petrol, and as long as there’s still petrol widely available, people will still continue to pick it as the fuel of choice, assuming the price of EVs and fuel cells don’t come down of course.

Back to the Auris HSD. It’s of course not the first time Toyota has put a hybrid system in a variant that’s not exclusively hybrid. However these hybrid cars have been pretty much reserved for JDM markets – we’re talking about models such as the Estima Hybrid. Everywhere else, Toyota’s only hybrid offering has been the successful hybrid-only Prius, and the Lexus hybrids don’t really count as they don’t have a Toyota badge.

Blue may be the colour signifying hybrid or green technology for the time being but the interior is completely overdone. The best way to describe it would be just acres and acres of blue, with a white centre console area.

For this concept, the 1.8 liter Hybrid Synergy Drive system from the latest Prius has been taken directly and slotted into the concept. A hybrid must of course be aerodynamic (unless you’re talking about a hybrid SUV, then it becomes relative) so Toyota has lowered the stock Auris ride height by 20mm, and they’ve also fitted underbody panels, a rear spoiler, aerodynamic 18 inch alloy wheels, and a rear diffuser.

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