What It Is: An informed rendering of the fourth-generation Toyota Prius. The most notable feature, of course, is the radically low nose with no upper air intake, and a horizontal headlamp treatment that takes Toyota’s angry-goose face to a more sinister-looking place. The profile, tall rear end, and split rear-window treatment appear much like they do on the current Prius, dictated as they are by aerodynamics, but expect a similarly modernized taillamp and rear fascia treatment, as well as a shelf-like rear spoiler.

Our previous spy-shot coverage of a thickly camouflaged prototype included pictures of the interior, which appears to get a more conventional layout, with the instruments placed in front of the driver (where they belong), rather than up near the windshield, although the shifter retains its peculiar position sprouting from the dashboard. All told, this represents the most significant design change to the Prius since the now-trademark wedge-shaped profile debuted on the second-gen model for the 2004 model year.

Why It Matters: The Prius is the world’s best selling hybrid, and is the best selling car period in California. It is the greenest feather in Toyota’s cap, being the first non-plug-in car sold in the U.S. to earn a 50-mpg combined fuel-economy rating from the EPA. The lineup will certainly include a plug-in and possibly other variants, and will likely establish a new bottom-breather design vernacular for Toyota’s ubiquitous hybrid line.

View Photos Top: 2014 Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid Bottom: 2015 Toyota Prius (spy photo)

Platform: The Prius will be the first of the brand to be built on the Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA), a modular platform that Toyota says will help the car shed hundreds of pounds. As class-leading fuel economy is reason number one that the Prius exists in the first place, expect Toyota to make extensive use of lightweight materials to reduce mass.

Powertrain: Earlier this year, we reported on some of the updates Toyota has planned for the Prius, such as batteries with greater energy density, introducing smaller, more-powerful electric motors, and moving to a gas engine with optimized combustion and reduced friction. Using these measures, Toyota hopes to increase fuel economy by about 8 percent. At some point, Toyota could also switch to more-energy-dense lithium-ion batteries to save space, although to keep prices competitive, expect the Prius to retain nickel-metal-hydride batteries in the short term.

Competition: Chevrolet Volt, Ford C-Max

Estimated Arrival and Price: The fourth-gen Prius could make its debut as soon as the New York auto show in April and is expected to arrive in dealerships by the end of the year. Prices should remain close to their current level, starting near $25K and rising up into the mid- to high-$30K range for well-optioned examples.

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