The Volt and Prius are in a Family Way with Expanded Lineups
The Toyota Prius and Chevrolet Volt are such good ideas that it makes sense to offer the basic package in other formats -- giving these cars families, in other words. There's no reason they have to exist solely as five-door hatchbacks. And it makes sense that the firstborn in both cases will add utility -- Toyota is creating a small van or station wagon, with 50 percent more interior space, and GM (playing to its strengths) is going with a crossover SUV.
The proud parents are being coy with the baby pictures. Toyota has just released one of the most annoying videos ever, forcing you to watch three minutes of "professional skateboarder" Bob Burnquist going back and forth in a perfect imitation of a hamster on a treadmill -- and all in service of teasing a two-second shot of the new member of the Toyota Prius family, which will be unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show January 10. A subsequent interior shot reveals a really roomy interior, and the two-sunroof option seen in some vans. Here's the video:
In the incredibly brief glimpse of the car I managed to freeze-frame in the video, the new car looks like a beefier Prius, with very similar front-end styling. My guess is that the Prius will translate very well into a small van, and the added utility will quickly win some converts.
GM is likely to show a crossover version of the Volt called the "Amp" in Detroit. The company earlier exhibited the Volt MPV5 show car in Beijing (that's it in the photo at the top of the page), and the Amp will undoubtedly be quite similar. The drivetrain is pure Volt and the performance will be similar, though extra weight means the car will lose some of its all-electric range.
These variants make sense, because Toyota is a minivan master, and GM always sees gold in SUVs, and consumers have voted with their feet on the crossover type.
Obviously, it doesn't have to end here. Would you buy a Volt pickup? I wouldn't, but it would probably sell very well in Texas. How about a Prius convertible? My deposit is all ready for one of those. Both the Prius and Volt are optimized for fuel economy in their current guises, with lightweight bodies and good aerodynamics. As a heavier crossover, the Volt might lose five mpg or so, and the same for a Prius minivan. But I think there are constellations of consumers ready to make that tradeoff for more utility. If it got me a Prius convertible, I'd certainly bite the bullet.
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Photo: Chevrolet