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hopin this is not a repost...

Toyota Alessandro Volta
With the Alessandro Volta, Toyota collaborates with Italdesign-Giugiaro to take the concept of a supercar into the hybrid era. Think of it as an exotic that can be parked in the garage of a Sierra Club activist. Alessandro Volta starts with Toyota's most advanced hybrid system, transplanted from the RX400h (also on display in Geneva). On the Alessandro Volta, the 3.3-liter V-6 is fitted behind the rear axle - it's not connected directly to the rear wheels. Motion comes from two electrically powered engines, one per axle providing all-wheel drive and pushing 402 horsepower to the pavement. This layout eliminates the traditional transmission and gearbox longitudinal components. The seating layout is three abreast; in Geneva that means three leggy models who dropped jaws of the predominantly male automotive press corps, in stark contrast to the goings-on over at the Volvo booth.

seen it... .its a pretty lookin thing

love it

looks cool & expensive

i doubt it's comming out...there is no market for a supercar like that. they would have been better off re-vamping the mr-s...unless they can find some way to sell it for 35-40K...then it's feesable...but i doubt it...

i dont really like how concept cars are all short..
big windshield.

looks crazy

looks kool!!

won't pass safety standards because of the 3 across seating.

Why not invest the money into things that could SELL in reality.

i love it. i hope to see it on the road someday.

yeah ive seen before too, that thing looks crazy, will definitly cost a nice chunk

been awhile since toyota acutally had a sports car at a auto show...

automakers use concept cars to provide ideas for the masses. they survey what is like or disliked, r&d what is possible and take everything affordable and profitable into production. they also take into account what the competitors have available.

Yeah, it has been a while. Is it true the reason that a 'supra' like car wasnt at the latest auto show because the NSX looked too much like it?

The post didn't mention the fuel economy. It gets almost 40MPG and does not have a transmission(mechnical). 0-60 in 4 secs. Top speed is about 155mph.

Hybrid Synergy Drive Electronic controlled CVT works fundamentally different(no belt, pulley, and cones)from Honda/Nissan/Saturn CVT. The CVT function is achieved by cleverly engaging Internal Combustion Engine(ICE), Electric Motor, and Wheel in a planetary gear set. Planetary gear set can combine power from any two sources and output to the third source. At a given ICE RPM, increasing Electric Motor RPM would increase the Wheel speed. At a given speed (Constant wheel rotation), ICE RPM can be adjusted by changing the Electric Motor RPM, thus, achieving CVT functionality electronically!

Planetary gear can also split power from one source onto the other two sources. ICE power can be split into the Wheels and Electric Motor (aka electric generator). Therefore, you are driving the car and charging the battery at the same time. This enables Prius to take advantage of ICE "sweet spot" when you accelerate the engine RPM close to the "sweet spot". In that situation, the computer might put the ICE to the most efficient RPM and charge the battery. Mild hybrid such as Honda Civic can only route the power from the ICE to the Wheel and back to the battery through regenerative braking.

Dennis

good addtl info. reiterates the fact that toyota is using this concept to introduce new technology and hopefully port some into production. good to know that hybrids are getting better because imo the prius sucks in the Performance and aesthetic (looks) category

For Prius, considering that it's engine makes only 76 horse power, and the car weights close to 2900 lbs, the Performance is very impressive. Prius accelerates about the same as 2004 Honda Civc auto(lighter car).

The goal of Prius was to achieve minimum emission. It even gave up some fuel economy and Performance to reduce emission.

Dennis