A Corolla hybrid and a warning
Toyota New Zealand has launched a hybrid version of its Corolla hatch - Rob Maetzig takes a look.
While actual arrival of a hybrid version of the massively popular Toyota Corolla isn’t that much of a big deal, the circumstances surrounding its New Zealand launch certainly are.
It’s all to do with climate change. At the Kiwi media launch of the Corolla hybrid, Toyota New Zealand managing director Alistair Davis reminded journalists that the world’s CO2 levels are the highest they have been for at least 400,000 years, and if nothing is done global temperatures will rise by 4 to 5 degrees by the end of this century.
‘‘Scientists believe the maximum the planet can sustain is a 2 degree rise - and temperatures have already gone up 1 degree. With a 4-5 degree rise, it is conceivable the Ross Ice Shelf will melt. That would be the end of ice in Antarctica and a subsequent 60 metre rise in the level of our oceans. That would put us under water here,’’ he said of his presentation at the Manfeild motorsport park near Feilding.
‘‘And if you lose ice in Antarctica, you will also lose snow in the Himalayas. Those are the mountains that feed the rivers that provide the water to grow the food that feeds millions of people in the likes of China and India.
‘‘So overall, it’s a gloomy outlook for our planet. The world as we know it is on a knife-edge,’’ said Davis, who is also the chairman of the Sustainable Business Council.
‘‘What we all do in the next 20 years is going to have a massive impact.’’
Everyone has a part to play in a big international effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Davis told journalists. Toyota, the manufacturer of the most vehicles in the world, has committed to reducing its new vehicle CO2 emissions by 90 per cent from 2010 levels by 2050, using a combination of hybrid, plug-in hybrid, fuel cell and electric vehicles.
‘‘That’s a massive challenge. To achieve that sort of reduction, the average CO2 emissions will need to be 20 grams per kilometre - at the moment our Prius hybrid’s emissions are 80g/km.’’
So far, Toyota has concentrated on petrol-electric hybrids as the bridge to whatever the ultimate eco-car will be, TNZ’s general manager of sales Steve Prangnell told journalists. But at the same time the company is looking to the future by spending $1 million an hour on R&D, including activities associated with the environment, energy and safety.
‘‘We have stepped up our
R&D and production capacity of nickel-metal hydride and lithium-ion batteries. We have also ramped up development on new battery technologies like solid state and lithium-air, as well as devoting resources to chemistries beyond lithium, such as magnesium and other materials.’’
Since 1997 the brand has sold 9 million hybrids globally, and this year it expects to sell 1.46 million hybrids, a 21 per cent year-on-year increase in volume.
But here are some interesting statistics that underline where New Zealand plays in all of this. Right now Toyota’s global hybrid sales mix is 16 per cent of total sales, with the highest mix being Japan where it is 47 per cent thanks to Government incentives.
But in New Zealand the Toyota hybrid mix is just 4 per cent, despite the fact TNZ retails six different Toyota hybrid models and eight different Lexus models.
The obvious question now is whether arrival of a hybrid version of the Corolla, which is New Zealand’s biggest-selling passenger vehicle, will dramatically increase that hybrid sales percentage.
Prangnell said TNZ is excited about the car’s potential, especially given its success in Western Europe where the hybrid version of the Corolla - known as Auris over there - accounts for more than 50 per cent of all sales.
In New Zealand it is expected that close to 500 of the hybrids will be sold during the remainder of this year, which would propel total Corolla sales for 2016 to more than 7000 units for the first time.
The Corolla hybrid, which goes on sale in July, looks exactly like any other Corolla hatch, this being part of a Toyota strategy of mainstreaming hybrid vehicles. Our hybrid is actually based on the GLX version of the current range.
Underneath, the hybrid is fitted with the engine and CVT transmission from the previousgeneration Prius, which has a total system output of 100kW. Combined fuel consumption is 4.1 L/100km which is a 33 per cent reduction on the petrol GLX, and CO2 emissions are 96g/km which is 47g less than the petrol model.
And price? It has been set at $38,490 which is $3000 more than a standard GLX.