Corolla Could Get Toyota’s Electric AWD System
Toyota officials have revealed that a hybrid, all-wheel-drive Corolla is something they are seriously considering.
At the Los Angeles Auto Show, the Japanese automaker not only unveiled the 2019 Prius with an electric AWD system but also the first-ever hybrid Corolla. A hybrid AWD-e Corolla might seem like the next logical step.
“You’ve heard from Akio Toyota, our CEO, who has said his desire was to offer every one of our cars with a hybrid option,” said Jack Hollis, Toyota North America general manager. “Or an electrification option is really what I should say. Because it can be different technologies.”
In the new Prius, the AWD-e system features an extra electric motor that can drive the rear wheels during takeoff and when low traction necessitates it, at speeds up to 43 mph. While he wouldn’t confirm an AWD Corolla, he did say that the AWD systems were interchangeable and that it would be “silly” not to deliver on AWD when that is something he knows US consumers have asked for. (Doesn’t that kind of seem to be a confirmation after all?)
Related: Diving under the hood of the 2019 Toyota Corolla
Yoshiki-San, the Corolla’s chief engineer, also acknowledged that it would be possible to put the hybrid AWD system into the car, and that the company is working on building a number of Corolla variants. The ones that will see production are the ones customers ask for.
For the time being, the new Corolla hybrid will be offered as a sedan only, and while Toyota wants to hybridize every vehicle in its lineup, Yoshiki-San made an interesting revelation about what the future has in store for the Corolla Hatchback.
“The hatchback could get there,” he said about a possible hybrid model. “The hatchback has so much interest that we’re actually losing [hybrid] to actually test other special editions that don’t have hybrid in them.”
Related: Top 10 reasons to buy a Toyota
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