The Toyota Sai is a

hybrid electric car Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two diff ...

sharing the same platform and hybrid drivetrain as the

Lexus HS The Lexus HS (Japanese: レクサス・HS, ''Rekusasu HS'') is a dedicated hybrid vehicle introduced by Lexus as a new compact executive car sedan in 2009. Built on the Toyota New MC platform, it is classified as a compact under Japanese regu ...

. It was launched in Japan on October 20, 2009, following the launch of the Lexus HS in January of the same year.

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

received about 14,000 orders in one month after its introduction, and the Sai is available at all Toyota Japanese dealership sales channels. The Sai was released in December 2009 as Toyota's second hybrid-only line after the Prius as Toyota brand model. Positioned between the Prius and the Crown Hybrid, the Sai came in a semi-fastback 4-door sedan body with a trunk. It was a sister car of the Lexus HS 250h that was released earlier in July, and the two models shared the basic components although they were differentiated by their interior and exterior designs. The Sai's body length, width, and height were smaller than those of the Lexus HS 250h by 95 mm, 15 mm, and 10 mm, respectively. The highly aerodynamic body design extended even to the flat and smooth underfloor covers, attaining a drag coefficient of 0.27 which was among the best in its class. Although the Sai employed the Toyota Hybrid System (THS) II with a reduction gear mechanism (the same as that of the Prius), its engine was a more powerful 2.4-liter unit (2AZ-FXE) producing 150 PS, to which a 143 PS motor was combined to drive the front wheels. The fuel consumption was 23.0 km/L under the 10-15 test cycle. The name comes from the Japanese word "sai" -which means "talent" and "coloration" when written with the Kanji character. On June 25, 2010, Lexus (Toyota) recalled 17,801 2010 model year HS250h and Sai models for failing to comply with US

FMVSS The Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) are U.S. federal vehicle regulations specifying design, construction, performance, and durability requirements for motor vehicles and regulated automobile safety-related components, systems, and d ...

301, "Fuel System Integrity", due to the risk of excessive fuel leakage in the event of a

rear-end collision A rear-end collision (often called simply rear-end or in the UK a shunt) occurs when a vehicle crashes into the one in front of it. Common factors contributing to rear-end collisions include driver inattention or distraction, tailgating, panic ...

. A recall of these Sai and HS models for reprogramming the brake software in February 2010 also led some buyers to question the model, with word of the issue possibly scaring away potential buyers. On November 15, 2017, the Sai was discontinued and replaced by the

Lexus ES 300h The is a series of mid-size executive cars marketed since 1989 by Lexus, the luxury division of Toyota, across multiple generations, each offering V6 engines and a front-engine, front-wheel-drive layout. The first five generations of the ES used ...

, which was released in Japan on October 24, 2018.

Gallery

;Pre-facelift File:Toyota Sai 001.JPG, Front view File:Toyota Sai 002.JPG, Rear view File:2009 Toyota SAI 03.jpg, Interior ;2013 facelift File:2013 Toyota SAI 01.jpg, Front view File:2013 Toyota Sai (50725083251).jpg, Rear view File:TOYOTA SAI AZK10 2013MC 03.jpg, Interior

References

External links

* {{auto-stub Sai 2010s cars Sedans Hybrid electric cars