One designer's look at the 2015 Toyota Prius

What if I told you that the Blade Runner-esque vehicle in the photo above was the next Prius? Would you be excited? Well, the bad news is that the concept above is likely not the next Prius, it's a design study by industrial designer Eric Leong. The good news is that Leong completed this study as part of last year's Toyota Design internship at the automaker's Advanced Design Studio in Tokyo, Japan, so at the very least there is a Toyota connection.

Industrial designer Eric Leong takes a speculative look at how a 2015 Toyota Prius might appear.

(Credit: Eric Leong)

Leong's concept features a windswept design that channels airflow around the vehicle to reduce drag, mimicking visually the flow of air around the concept's chassis. The result is an organically styled vehicle that sits a few inches lower than the Prius' roofline and stretches what looks like a foot and a half longer thanks to its elongated rear end. Leong makes use of the additional length with increased storage space in this new boat tail.

An inductive charging receiver at the rear end of the Leong's Prius 2015 concept allows the vehicle to wirelessly charge its battery by parking over a charging pad. Meanwhile, the interior gets a minimalist aesthetic that removes most of the instrumentation, replacing it with a large display in the steering wheel's hub and a smaller secondary display at the base of the center tunnel.

Leong's windswept Prius is both longer and lower than the current incarnation.

(Credit: Eric Leong)

If the Prius C Concept is any indication, Toyota's taking a different direction with its future Prii, but we still like drooling over Leong's concept.

source: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7-20070897-48/one-designers-look-at-the-2015-toyota-prius/?tag=mncol;txt