Toyota Volta

Description:

The rising costs of fuel have created panic in the minds of all car owners. Then there is the fact that there are limited reserves of natural fuel left that shall not last for more than a few decades if their use is not regulated immediately. If this is not all, there are the problems of pollution and global warming and the CO2 emissions of gas driven vehicles are the biggest contributor to this issue. Keeping these things in mind, most car owners are slowly turning over to cars that run on alternate means and most of them prefer vehicles that run both on fuel and electricity. Most car manufacturers are now changing over to hybrid cars, the name given to cars that run on alterative energy sources.

The Toyota Volta is one such car which not only runs on both electricity and gas, but also has a body that is cool to look at. Having a seating capacity of 3 this car boasts of a carbon fiber body. The three occupants of the car can sit side by side to each other. Thanks to the `drive by wire’ system this car boasts of, the pedals and steering wheels can be put in front of any one of them. When you check out the Toyota Volta, you will observe that the V6 gas engine (3.3 liter) is situated behind the rear axle and that it is not coupled directly with the wheels. In this vehicle, 2 electric engines provide the movement, one engine per axle. This provides the safely of an all wheel drive.

The biggest benefit of clubbing together a huge internal engine along with the 2 electric motors is awesome speed. Just imagine the pickup from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 4 seconds flat by its 408 horsepower engine and you will know what we are talking about. The best news is that regardless of this extreme power, one can still expect to achieve more than 30 miles per gallon from the Toyota Volta. When driving the car at low speeds, the driver can easily switch over the engine to an electric only mode. Toyota had grouped together with the renowned firm Italdesign-Giugiaro, a renowned automotive design organization, to create the prototype of the Volta concept. The technology prowess of Toyota and the designing capabilities of Italdesign-Giugiaro have combined to deliver the Toyota Volta.

For those who lack the knowledge, the word Volta is derived from the name of the famous Italian inventor, Alesandro Volta, who is the inventor of the electric battery. The terms `volts’ also originates from his name. It would not have been possible to design the current generation of hybrid cars that rely a lot on batteries, if it were not for the discovery of Volta. He might have never imagined in his wildest dreams that one day, his invention, would pave the way to breathtaking cars of the future that run on both fuel and electricity.