No Prius limo at Frankfurt Motor Show

Visitors at the opening day of the Frankfurt Motor Show tomorrow will be greeted by a sea of car makers all clamouring to flag their green credentials by exhibiting hybrid and electric models; the new plug-in version of the Toyota Prius is there, but not, unfortunately, the stretched limo version.

The plug-in Prius uses lithium-ion batteries that can be charged either by the car’s petrol engine or via a household socket. The car emits only 60g/km of C02, but only 150 examples will come to Europe as part of an initial trial.

8-seater hybrid – the Prius stretched limo

The third-generation Prius is a more powerful, luxurious and roomy version of the current model, but it is unable to compete with the eight-seater limo version pictured right.

Toyota has no plans to put the Prius limo into production, but there is somewhat of an arms race going on in the stretched limousine world – limos have got about as long as most city centres can handle so hire companies are looking to build the most imaginative cars they can.

Recent examples include a limousine built using the decommissioned body of a executive jet dubbed the ‘Learmousine’.

A spokesperson for the Environmental Transport Association (ETA) said: “The extra weight is likely to reduce the car’s fuel efficiency, but the Prius hybrid limousine offers Hollywood stars and hen parties alike a chance to reduce their carbon footprints.”