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Amid rising fuel and car prices in the USA, some are longing for those banned Chinese EVs.


Just a thought, if I were to buy a new Corolla, the cheapest I found within a few hundred miles from here is just over $23,000 which would be over $300 a month including a trade-in and about that same amount for the insurance just for the wife and me, plus at least $150 per month in fuel costs. Add in saving for tires and doing normal maintenance and suddenly I'm not that far from $1,000 per month. Or I can take off about $100 per month if I get a used one.

I doubt the production car will look as good as the concept pictures, but the HEV version’s fuel economy could be better than the Prius’s due to the new super-lean-burn engine. There will also be a BEV version.





https://www.autoblog.com/news/toyota-prius-faces-a-corolla-sized-problem

Hesitant to post about this speculative engine. In effect, the induction and exhaust are upgraded with modern engine control systems. More of a ‘brass board’ prototype, I wish them well:


A three cylinder version at 50hp (35 kW) would be very attractive. Then scaled to 100 and 150hp, a nice family:

• 3 cylinder - 120 degree power pulses for smoother operation and tolerable reliability if on cylinder fails.
• Separate oil crank case - avoids burning lubricant
• Forced induction - avoids butterfly losses and potentially handles altitude changes much better
• Direct fuel injection- critical for multi-fuel operation

I like the architecture but there is a lot of work before production becomes real.

Bob Wilson