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2016 Toyota Prius to Borrow Parts from TS040 Hybrid Le Mans Racer

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The Prius is one of Toyota’s best-loved vehicles. As one of the first-selling mass-production hybrids in America—and by far the most successful—Toyota definitely did something right when it ventured into the gas-electric hybrid market. Now, for the 2016 Prius, rumor has it that Toyota will borrow certain parts from the TS040 Hybrid Le Mans Racer in order to make the next-gen Prius the best Prius there ever was.

TS040 Hybrid Le Mans Racer

The TS040 Hybrid Le Mans Racer

Now, you might be expecting a racecar Prius, but that would be taking it a bit too far. While Toyota will certainly be using a few parts from the TS040 Hybrid Le Mans Racer, it won’t be creating a street-legal version for our driving pleasure. Instead, Toyota will use the same microcontrollers, semiconductors, and other electronics hardware found in the Le Mans Racer for the next-generation Prius. This hardware has been developed in order to improve the powertrain’s efficiency, so we can expect the next Prius to be the most efficient version ever.

Another aspect of the TS040 Le Mans Hybrid Racer that might possibly make a cameo in the 2016 Prius is its all-wheel-drive configuration. This is merely a rumor at this point, but given that Toyota is borrowing certain technologies from the Le Mans Racer for the Prius, it certainly wouldn’t be too far-fetched to imagine that Toyota might also add AWD technology to the list.

The components that will carry over from the Le Mans Racer to the Prius will have certainly gone through some seriously vigorous testing through various endurance races, including the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans.

By utilizing this technology, Toyota expects an improvement in fuel efficiency of up to 10% in the 2016 Prius. We’ll have to wait until late 2015 for the new Prius’ debut, though, and then probably even longer until we can get our hands on one to test out!