Geneva Show-Goers Get Charge out of Toyota's Volta

Toyota Joins Italdesign for Japanese-Italian Special

Toyota, not particularly known for breakthrough styling, has become one of the world's top selling carmakers primarily based on quality engineering alone. What would happen if the number one Japanese brand put as much energy into making its award-winning cars look as good as they go?

Toyota seems to have mastered quality engineering, now what if they combine this knowledge with breathtaking new designs? (Photo: Toyota Canada)

That's a question recently answered by Italdesign's Fabrizio Giugiaro, son of famed automotive designer Giorgetto Giugiaro. The Italian design house joined together with Toyota to launch the Volta in Geneva earlier this month, a car named in honor of physicist Alessandro Volta who invented the battery.

Fitting that Toyota has incorporated its latest hybrid powertrain into the new concept, a version of the RX400h that made its official debut at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit last January.

Toyota has teamed up with Italdesign's Fabrizio Giugiaro, son of famed automotive designer Giorgetto Giugiaro, to launch the Volta in Geneva earlier this month. (Photo: Toyota Canada)

"The hybrid engine can provide great power and great performance, so I tried to pen a body that would express this dynamism," commented Fabrizio Giugiaro, head of Italdesign's styling and model division.

This second generation Hybrid Synergy Drive system uses the 3.3-liter V6 common to a variety of Toyota/Lexus products, plus two powerful electric motors to produce a phenomenal 408 horsepower (300 kW). Needless to say the lightweight sports car is quick, shooting forward from standstill to 100 km/h in a sizzling 4.03 seconds before reaching a terminal velocity of 250 km/h (155 mph).