Toyota Prius Plug-in
Sponsored links:
Toyota is targeting 2012 for the release of a plug-in version of the Toyota Prius.
Toyota is currently running a national print ad promoting the company’s future eco-friendly technologies. As you would expect, it pictures a Toyota Prius glistening by a tree-lined lake, and brags about the fuel and CO2 saved by hybrid technology. The ad copy says that Toyota’s current hybrids are “paving the way for the next generation of environmental vehicles.” And then these five words: “Like cars charged at home.”
Sounds innocent enough, but those five words signal a big shift for Toyota as it finally moves forward with plans for a plug-in hybrid. Unlike Bob Dylan’s fans who sobbed and booed when he went electric at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965, Toyota’s hybrid followers are cheering the company’s intention to plug in, which could boost mileage on a Prius from 50 miles per gallon to the equivalent of 75 or so.
Starting in January, the company will put the first 500 official Plug-in Priuses on American, European and Japanese roads. The US will get 150 of the test vehicles, which use lithium ion batteries, not the nickel metal hydride packs that Toyota says are the current and long-term solution for conventional hybrids.
The pilot effort will kick off a three-year effort to get data on how plug-in cars fare in the real world: how they're charged, how their batteries perform, and what sort of mileage they get. "The target is 2012 to be coming to market with them," Irv Miller, group vice president for Toyota US Sales, said at a Los Angeles conference on climate change. Before that, "we're going to study the challenges of consumer demand," he said.
When Toyota unveiled the Prius Plug-in at the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show, it released these basic stats:
- Extended EV (electric) driving mode of up to 12.5 miles at speeds up to 62 mph
- CO2 emissions cut to less than 60g/km
- Full recharging in around an hour and a half from a 230-volt supply
Leading Edge or Bleeding Edge?
It makes sense for the hybrid pioneer and leader, already on the third generation of its gas-electric technology, to lead the way with the next generation of cost-effective trustworthy plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. But Toyota officials have been fearful of the bleeding edge, repeatedly warning that lithium-battery-powered plug-in hybrids are too costly, the technology is unproven, and too little is understood about how customers will use the vehicles. Doug Coleman, US-based Prius product manager at Toyota, explained: “We’re pacing ourselves in a way that we think that we can be competitive in a few years time for a market that makes sense for both us and the customer.”
Fair enough, but the most vocal of those early customers have been stirred up into pitchfork levels of excitement about Tesla’s electric Roadster, the Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid, and Nissan’s all-electric Leaf. So with those five words—“like cars charged at home”—Toyota is capitulating.
Cost Matters
Reuters reported that Toyota plans to sell the Plug-in Prius at a price close to that of the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, which is going for about $48,000 in Japan. Ouch. How many Prius shoppers are going to want the plug-in version if it’s anywhere close to double the price of the conventional version?
Obviously, Toyota wants to bring down the price. That’s already reflected in the Plug-in Prius’s likely all-electric range of 10 or so miles—instead of the 40 miles or more that rival plug-ins are expected to achieve. It’s a strategy to find the middle ground between adequate all-electric range and reducing the need for a big battery pack—the most expensive component in a plug-in car.
Is that the right strategy? That depends. How much driving you do on a given day? After 10 miles of all-electric driving, would you would be satisfied with the car reverting back to a plain old 50-mpg Prius until your next recharge? Or do you have to have a 40-mile plug-in hybrid or 100-mile all-electric car at any cost?
Take your time to answer those questions. Pricing and range are still a guessing game. The Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf will have fairly limited availability in 2010 and 2011—not ramping up to widespread distribution until about 2012. That’s just about the time that Toyota plugs in its Prius, giving consumers an unprecedented selection of cars that can charge at home.
-
n/a MPG n/a L/100km
-
BODY TYPE:
Sedan
-
TECHNOLOGY:
Plug-In Hybrid
-
BASE MSRP:
n/a
Toyota Prius Plug-in Photos
I think to keep the price down, 10 miles of electric before the engine kicks in is a good idea for the entry level plug in vehicle.
Ford had better keep it's 2011 delivery date for the EV Focus and 2012 for their plug-in/next gen hybrid Focus, Fusion and Escape. It's a good idea that Ford is planning to offer a mix of EV/Hybrid and Plug-In on their cars, which i am sure Toyota will do also.
What would also help is to be able to pick a model, match it with a mode, Petro, EV or Hybrid, then select our battery 10, 50, 100, 200, 300 miles. The same battery should work on most all models/modes for the carmaker, and we should be able to upgrade/trade in the battery whenever when we need to.
This way it helps with the fear of buying too much battery or not enough and being stuck with it.
It's a trial version. I expect Toyota will use this model to prove the technology, and then refine it into something with a full-commute range.
alancamp, the idea of picking out a battery of "10, 50, 100, 200, 300" mile capacity is a good concept. The only drawback that I can see to it is that the car manufactures must build in a standard battery space in their cars that could accommodate the largest battery or state in the car specs what the largest capacity battery that would fit the car. That way, if one needed a car that had a 300 mile capacity, they would not buy a car with specs that state its battery space would only hold a 50 mile capacity battery.
A 10 mile range? Seriously, a 10 mile EV range?
Frankly, where I live a 10 mile range doesn’t get me to the gas station and back. I’m not impressed. And for double the cost of a standard Prius, it’s a no brainer for a Prius owner to *not purchase* the plug-in
Hell, maybe Toyota should talk to the guys at Hymotion. I think their upgrade to plug-in costs less than $20,000.
The final boneheaded move is pricing it $8,000 above the ridiculously priced Chevy Volt when it will get 1/4 of the Volt’s electric range.
Sorry Toyota. I won't even give you a "nice try" on this plan.
At the same time the Mercedes Benz Vision S 500 Plug In Hybrid is certified to get 73 mpg, can go 18 miles on electric power, and charges in 1 hour with a 20kW power source. It looks like the sub 20 mile range and 70+ mpg is going to be the standard for this first go round of plug-in hybrid cars.
Now all we need is the garage docking station for charging. A simple electro-magnetic configuration like the MacBook uses connected to a parking stop like device should work. This way it's automatically plugged in every day.
I agree with the posts pointing out the lame 12.5 mile electric range at slow 62 mph (100 kph) speeds. This dog will never show and Toyota will say they told us so as people form a line out the door of Nissan, Tesla, Chevy, and all the rest who make useful plug-in vehicles.
I would like to ask alancamp why I can manage to plug my MacBook in by myself but I need a docking station to plug my car in? Are you implying that the car needs to plug itself in for some reason?
Timeout!
Man its amazing how many fall under the spell of public relations nonsense. If you read articles from this site you should clearly make this connection go back and look at what PR they have been spinning and what they actually do, hint look at articles related to plugin vehicles.
I don't see why most don't pick up on this marketing technique. The national print ad promoting the company’s future eco-friendly technologies (Prius Plugin) is trying to keep public interest in Toyota's hybrid products long-term, while at the same time focusing consumers on their current production of vehicles.
I don't see why people can't get this, Toyota is betting early EV's and Plugins will be expensive and folks like GM and Nissan will have major production problems. Remember also that limited quantities of these cars will be released in the first year with the possibility of full production coming online 3 to 5 year into production.
As for the engineering quotes by Toyota, I would say that's garbage expect similar distance/ range from a Prius/Lexus Plugin Hybrid so don't get to excited about fake PR numbers, because behind the scenes they are working on developing a plugin option for the next gen Prius.
Thats ok Samie,
Most of my friends are waiting for a real plug-in vehicle. They can wait another year or so for Nissan, Ford, GM, Tesla, etc to work out the production bugs without having to buy another Prius. Toyota's only hope is that Prius sales don't totally tank while people are waiting for the others.
I like everything about this car but the price. Perhaps because I drive 12 miles a day now...
Still, 12 miles a day, 300 days a year, 8 year battery life, $3.00/gallon gas, 50 MPG Prius... adds up to only $1728 of fuel costs saved over the life of the battery.
How can I justify paying an extra $25000 for that? I could get a nice rooftop solar system with that money.
There are conversion companies that can take a used Prius and give it the 70 EV mph top speed and 25 miles of all electric driving for $15k. Along with a 10 year warranty on the battery.
http://www.pluginconversions.com/picc_pressrelease61009.html
Folks, lithium batteries are a known “unknown”. My one associate just spent a week blowing up over $20,000 worth of lithium batteries for his EV conversion company. Some cities are requiring that all their utility vans be EV and they are bidding on the contract to convert the vans. Hybrids will not count in this case; they have to be EV. Along the deliberate blowing up of the batteries, he also has been doing charge testing on these designs. Their particular battery design is endothermic, not exothermic. The battery has to be heated to a certain temperature before charging or the lithium plates out. He indicates that above that temperature, the batteries can be charged without any permanent damage to the battery. He has indicated that the car will rust out before the battery will significantly degrade if properly charged. At higher temperatures the battery can be recharged in as little as an hour and a half. If fast recharged at 150 degrees, the battery temperature will drop to 125 degrees within a minute (endothermic). The batteries that he blew up that caught fire were put out using water with minimal effort since the blowing up did not produce lithium metal and the lithium compound does not burn readily.
Now, tell me what other battery type has these kinds of properties? And if all these properties are so well known about lithium batteries, why is my associate still testing lithium battery properties?
All car manufactures and car EV conversion companies are still hedging their bets. Toyota is no different. The lithium battery future looks really bright – once they learn what they have and which lithium battery to use.
12.5 miles isn't far enough for many. They are designing a car that would work in a compact metro areas, but useless in a massive megalopolis.
Simple Comment
Prius is at the end of its life so toyota is behind so told there PR department to hold off until they scramble for a better system.
Toyota had a nice run with it like the SUV days.
It was a good intermediate technology.
But EV is the future.
The prius name will fade away just like ford explorers have
GMs new volt and others will be superior in a matter of months now not years.
I saw a plug in Prius today on my walk to work. It was a generation 2 Prius. Toyota is already and has been experimenting with plug in technology on production vehicles. The Volt is still more than a year away. By the time it arrives I suspect Toyota will have a plug in option for the Prius. I bet it will have an all electric range somewhere between 18 and 28 miles and will be priced significantly less than the Volt.
I doubt the Prius name will fade any any faster than the Corolla name.
And where are those Novas and Vegas and Cavaliers anyway?
My gut reaction is to say that people won't even bother to plug in a car that has an under 15 mile electric range. But then, why would they pay double if they don't intend to plug it in?
If that Nissan Leaf really comes out, has a 100 mile range and costs not much more than $30,000, it might develop a significant niche market that could pave the way for better and cheaper future versions of the car.
I'm skeptical that any of this will happen until I see these vehicles available for purchase. However, it looks like we may be starting to take our first baby steps towards significantly cleaner cars.
That said, I'm happy to stick with my walkable city neighborhood and transit. This strategy has the advantages of being cheap, clean, giving me exercise, and being available now.
Man,
They'd better have an upgrade in mind for 2010 owners. That EV mode button is there for a reason. It should involve a battery pack swap as seen in mods available now. The Prius just needs an energy-dense battery with plugin conversion.
It's not rocket science ...
Hey,
I'd plugin my Prius in a heart beat. It's hardly a big effort ... If the battery pack gave me 12.5 miles, I could drive fossil-fuel-free to and from work.
Heck yes, I'd do this.
Post a new comment