I see it’s suddenly Mini-Ute day here at the Curbside, so here’s one I spotted this fall, the Prius Tote.
This 2nd-gen (2004-2009) Toyota Prius has had a major hatchectomy. Its builder offers the same service to you!
A local TV station covered his endeavor. “Mark DeSomer got the idea for the Prius Tote after noticing business trucks hauling little or nothing. So, he put a truck bed in what used to be the back seat of his Toyota Prius. He saves $175 a month on gas compared to his old pickup.”
Check out his website for more and better pictures. I wonder if the tailgate works. That would be quite a trick!
When will Toyota or Ford build a small hybrid pickup? This conversion is very nicely done, but a purpose-built pickup could make better use of space. Maybe a diesel is a better choice for a truck, even a small one? Of course the pure-electric pickup is definitely coming. Ideal for local hauling. All that electric torque.
It had to happen. Yes, makes sense for those small jobs. Betcha’ you’re going to catch a bit of flack with that headline!
At least it rhymes…..
The rear doors still function, and there’s a storage space under the bed in the rear-seat footwell area. Awesome!
Looks like the tailgate is non-functional though.
I wonder why it still had the door handles etc. A better solution would be to use the footwell space for more batteries! Shouldn’t be too hard to convert the hatch section into a tailgate so long as you don’t mind a small external hinge. For full utility you would want the tailgate to open down to the trunk floor level, but that is hardly the point.
That’s a great idea. One of the DIY plug-in hybrid kits like CalCars would fit in the footwells nicely. It could go 10 or 20 miles on batteries alone, before the engine kicked in.
Just needs a lift kit and some chrome naked ladies on the mudflaps…
Ten-four good buddy!
I would totally own that
Thats quite cool.
I bet Woodsy the owl would drive that.
Neat little trucklet. However:
“The payload capacity of your conversion vehicle is not to exceed 300 pounds.”
Bummer. You’d think some structural reinforcement and overload springs could solve that issue, although maybe that low limit is to avoid lawsuits.
The wife just said “it’s built to haul fluffy objects”.
Only 300 lbs. payload capacity? The concept is valid and the package is slick, but it needs more time in the oven before I’ll plunk down some Franklins for one.
Something’s off there, 3 passengers in the back seat of a Prius would exceed 300lb – unless that would be overloading the car too. There were a couple of Landcruiser variants recently (LC200) where using all the seats would easily overload the gross mass rating.
I would want a tote p/up….awesome .. Wonder what year or model Would be least expensive..Anne give me the best mileage. Gotta buy a Prius first .