Toyota FT-Bh hybrid concept makes 134.5 mpg the hard way

For the past few months, no automaker has seemed quite as energized as Toyota. Determined to bounce back from disaster-filled years, the Japanese behemoth has launched several successful new models and a passel of attractive concept cars such as the beautiful Lexus LF-LC. This is the Toyota FT-Bh, a hybrid concept at the Geneva Motor Show that gets 134.5 mpg. They can't all be winners.

A decade after the Prius first arrived, no other automaker has managed to produce hybrid vehicles in volumes approaching Toyota -- a tribute to the company's head-start in technology and business acumen. Some of that can been seen in the FT-Bh, conceived to show how to build a Toyota Yaris-sized hybrid for maximum efficiency without using exotic materials that would drive up prices. Weighing a scant 1,700 lbs., and sculpted for aerodynamics, the FT-Bh's power comes from a 1-liter, two-cylinder engine -- a smaller mill than what you find in large motorcycles.