The next-generation Toyota Prius was expected to debut by now, but the Japanese automaker pushed its unveiling in order to revamp its styling. The 2016 Toyota Prius spied here closely resembles the current model with just a lot of black tape, hinting that Toyota won’t drastically change its styling for the next iteration, although we can’t see the front end. The bigger changes to the 2016 Toyota Prius will be its platform with the new model riding on the Toyota New Global Architecture that will help the popular hybrid shed 20 percent of its weight.Reports say that the 2016 Toyota Prius will have a thermal efficiency of 40 percent, compared to the current model’s 38.5 percent. The previous generation Toyota Prius had a thermal efficiency of 37 percent. If the next-generation Prius turns out to be rated at 40 percent, it could possibly have the highest thermal efficiency rating out of all mass-produced passenger vehicles. It is also expected that the 2016 Toyota Prius will be available with either nickel-metal hydride or lithium-ion batteries, with the latter being more expensive but offering a better all-electric driving range.The 2016 Toyota Prius will make its debut later this year and the plug-in hybrid model will follow in mid-2016.