Owners of Toyota’s Prius hybrid will be able to buy a device to alert pedestrians that they are approaching from next week. Toyota is the first carmaker to market such a device, designed specifically for the third-generation Prius.
The alert device, priced at JPY12,600 (US$149), and about 20,000 yen with installation charges, produces a synthesised sound of an electric motor through a speaker placed at the front of the vehicle when the Prius is travelling on electric power below 25km/h. The sound gets louder or less audible depending on the vehicle’s speed. Once above 25km/h the sound automatically stops. Toyota expects to sell about 1,000 alert devices a month.
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Toyota has launched the system in response to guidelines issued earlier this year by Japan’s transport ministry amid growing concerns that hybrid cars are too quiet for people such as the elderly and blind.
Toyota spokesman Paul Nolasco said the automaker hopes to make this available to other markets such as the US and Europe once Toyota has studied the various regulations of these countries.
