Toyota FT-CH Hybrid Concept
Making good on its promise to proliferate its hybrid lineup with additional conventional gas-electric models even as it explores plug-ins and hydrogen-powered vehicles, Toyota is using the 2010 NAIAS in Detroit to unveil its FT-CH concept, whose latter consonants stand for “compact hybrid.”
Designed at Toyota’s facility in Nice, France, and rendered in a stunning metallic yellow, the FT-CH is an intriguing piece of design work with a stout road stance, hood-mounted headlamps, and taillights embedded in the back glass. It goes a bit heavy on the hexagons but looks cool anyway, especially in the rear three-quarter view. And even with its French Riviera flair, the FT-CH remains distinct as an alternative-fuel vehicle, and one that does so without turning our stomachs as does the doorstop-shaped Prius or Nissan’s blob-like Leaf.
What’s the point of the FT-CH? Well, according to Toyota, “The CH stands for compact hybrid . . . and it’s a concept that can best be defined by comparing it with the mid-size class Prius. The FT-CH captures the spirit and functionality of a car that thrives in the inner-city environment; sized right to be nimble, responsive, and maneuverable.”
Now, while we’re sure Toyota does not mean to imply that the FT-CH is a lithe, well-dressed urbanite that can squeeze into tight places while the porky Prius is out in the sticks bailing hay, it does call attention to the FT-CH’s weight (promised to be lighter than the Prius) and size (22 inches shorter and a bit less than an inch narrower than the Prius). Toyota also characterizes the FT-CH as having an “imaginative sense of style,” specifically within its playful, retro-futuristic Buck Rogers–style white and black interior, said to be designed with the “8-bit generation” in mind. (That means people who had/played/lusted after the original Nintendo.)
Toyota declined to provide specifics about what exactly powers the FT-CH, except to say that the car is a full hybrid and that it promises to be more fuel-efficient than the current Prius. Toyota did say that, if produced, the FT-CH would cost a bit less than the Prius and likely would be a part of a "Prius family" of cars. That means it would have a name that includes Prius, in the same way the Toyota Matrix debuted in the "Corolla family" as the Toyota Corolla Matrix. We’re pretty sure that it will be produced, at least if Toyota plans to achieve its goal of selling a million hybrids globally in “the early 2010s.
Making good on its promise to proliferate its hybrid lineup with additional conventional gas-electric models even as it explores plug-ins and hydrogen-powered vehicles, Toyota is using the 2010 NAIAS in Detroit to unveil its FT-CH concept, whose latter consonants stand for “compact hybrid.”
Designed at Toyota’s facility in Nice, France, and rendered in a stunning metallic yellow, the FT-CH is an intriguing piece of design work with a stout road stance, hood-mounted headlamps, and taillights embedded in the back glass. It goes a bit heavy on the hexagons but looks cool anyway, especially in the rear three-quarter view. And even with its French Riviera flair, the FT-CH remains distinct as an alternative-fuel vehicle, and one that does so without turning our stomachs as does the doorstop-shaped Prius or Nissan’s blob-like Leaf.
What’s the point of the FT-CH? Well, according to Toyota, “The CH stands for compact hybrid . . . and it’s a concept that can best be defined by comparing it with the mid-size class Prius. The FT-CH captures the spirit and functionality of a car that thrives in the inner-city environment; sized right to be nimble, responsive, and maneuverable.”
Now, while we’re sure Toyota does not mean to imply that the FT-CH is a lithe, well-dressed urbanite that can squeeze into tight places while the porky Prius is out in the sticks bailing hay, it does call attention to the FT-CH’s weight (promised to be lighter than the Prius) and size (22 inches shorter and a bit less than an inch narrower than the Prius). Toyota also characterizes the FT-CH as having an “imaginative sense of style,” specifically within its playful, retro-futuristic Buck Rogers–style white and black interior, said to be designed with the “8-bit generation” in mind. (That means people who had/played/lusted after the original Nintendo.)
Toyota declined to provide specifics about what exactly powers the FT-CH, except to say that the car is a full hybrid and that it promises to be more fuel-efficient than the current Prius. Toyota did say that, if produced, the FT-CH would cost a bit less than the Prius and likely would be a part of a "Prius family" of cars. That means it would have a name that includes Prius, in the same way the Toyota Matrix debuted in the "Corolla family" as the Toyota Corolla Matrix. We’re pretty sure that it will be produced, at least if Toyota plans to achieve its goal of selling a million hybrids globally in “the early 2010s.
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