Why is everyone so excited about Innova hybrid? We explain

For a long time, reports of Toyota working on an all-new iteration of the Innova were floating on the internet. Toyota has also affirmed those rumours by releasing a teaser image indicating the arrival of the all-new Innova Hycross – that’s what the new version of the Innova will be named. The new Innova Hycross is said to be a radical departure from the current-gen Innova Crysta in several ways, making it a technically more advanced product. Here are some insights which we now know about the upcoming Toyota Innova Hycross:

Strong hybrid

The new Toyota Innova Hycross is not the first-ever strong-hybrid MPV in the Indian car market, as that credit goes to Toyota Vellfire. The Hycross will be positioned much lower than the Vellfire. The MPV makes a significant switch from a diesel engine to a strong petrol-hybrid powertrain, which will give the Innova Hycross impressive fuel efficiency. This powertrain will include a 2.0-litre petrol engine, which will be bigger and more powerful than the 1.5-litre Atkinson petrol engine used in the Urban Cruiser Hyryder. The engine-strong hybrid combo is likely to give fuel economy comparable or higher than the diesel Innova.

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All-electric mode

In addition to excellent fuel economy figures, the new strong-hybrid engine will also help the new Innova Hycross to drive in an all-electric mode. The battery assistance in the strong-hybrid powertrain will allow people to use the Innova Hycross in the electric-only mode, though for only for a limited number of kilometers.

ADAS

The new Innova Hycross will become the first-ever product from Toyota in India to feature advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). Under these features, the driver will get semi-autonomous driving assistance features like adaptive cruise control, auto-levelling headlamps, blind spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, lane change assist, lane departure alert and more.

Panoramic sunroof

A spy picture of the overall monocoque frame of the Toyota Innova Hycross is having a large-sized rectangular hollow on its roof, indicating that the new MPV will feature a large panoramic sunroof. With this, the Hycross will be the first-ever model in the Innova lineup to feature a panoramic sunroof.

Monocoque frame

The new Toyota Innova Hycross will also be the first-ever iteration of the Innova which will be based on a monocoque frame. It is a radical departure from the ladder-on-frame architecture in the first-generation Innova and the currently-available Innova Crysta. A monocoque frame will enhance the driving dynamics of the Innova Hycross over the last two generations of the Innova.

Front-wheel-drive

Like most other monocoque frame-based vehicles in India, the new Toyota Innova Hycross will offer a front-wheel-drive configuration and not a rear-wheel-drive system like the last two generations of the Innova. Here, the powertrain will be transferring power to the front wheels only, which will increase fuel efficiency.

All-LED illumination

The Toyota Innova Crysta is currently available with LED projector headlamps and daytime running LEDs. However, the official teaser image released by Toyota shows that the Innova Hycross will get revised all-LED headlamps and daytime running LEDs. The tail lamps will also have LED inserts and will not be all-halogen tail lamps like the Innova Crysta.

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