Is this Toyota FT-Bh Concept the face of tomorrow’s Prius C? Not exactly, but you can bet you’ll see lots of its design into the next generation of Toyota’s Prius fleet. As cool as the idea is for compressed natural gas (CNG) to replace dirty gasoline engines, I don’t think it will make its way into showrooms anytime soon. Not to say that it won’t happen, the carbon footprint of CNG is one of the lowest of any burnable fuel, it’s clean and green to say the least.
Toyota claims that the Toyota FT-Bh Concept (which is a plug-in hybrid) can get up to 134.5 mpg. That’s mighty good considering how low its carbon footprint is.
Toyota FT-Bh weighs 1,733 lbs. To put that into perspective, the Mazda MX5 (Miata) weighs well over 2,000 lbs – or as much as Honey Boo Boo’s ego. Light composite materials and expensive alloys would make the Toyota FT-Bh Concept too expensive for its target demographic as things stand, so slighter cheaper materials will (most likely) bring the weight closer to a ton.
Although the interior contains many design aspects that are concept car typical, we can see a few elements that may make it to the next batch of Prii. The center console, steering wheel and center display look production ready. The wicker-look on the panels? Naw, not so much. Still, the pillars, doors and pedals seem production friendly too.
Check out the slice in the front fender of the Toyota FT-Bh Concept – that’s a design element right out of the Nissan GTR’s design book. How about that rear end with the integrated taillights? Yep, that looks like something destine for production soon. It’s both aerodynamic and functional – the way Toyota likes it.
Obviously the tall, skinny wheels would give way to something more practical – which would lower the efficiency too. Skinny, low rolling resistance tires are loved by engineers as they alone can increase potential mpg significantly.
The Toyota FT-Bh Concept was unveiled at the 2012 Geneva Auto Show to show consumers that Toyota is taking high gas prices very seriously. I mean, how cool would it be to drive a vehicle that owes very little to big oil? On that premise alone, Toyota could make a killing on a vehicle like this.
In the meantime, the Toyota FT-Bh Concept would look awesome as the next Prius C – right?
Check out our most recent video test of the Prius C vs the Ford Fiesta and Scion IQ!
