Toyota's Sets PHEV Release Date

[hill]

I'd sure liked to ask Doug about this guy Irving Miller. He's V.P for Toyota's U.S. sales. My nick name for him already is Mr. Caution. The way he apparently looks on plug in technology, you'd think they cause the swine flu.

Plug-in Prius is slated to come to U.S. market by 2012 -- latimes.com

What REALLY Gauls me the most is WHY plug-in's supposedly cause Miller to wring his hands. According to Miller, it's due to the RAV4-EV. He says, "We had a lot of people raising their hands for the RAV4 EV," he said. "As soon as we made them ready for sale, that line evaporated very quickly."

Oh, REALLY? I burned rubber to the Irvine Toyota dealer when I first found out I could actually buy a RAV4-EV ... only to be given a giant run around, then finally told the WAIT LIST was FILLED and no one else was getting on it. Years later, when I found out the city of Huntington Beach was turning in a couple that the city had LEASED, Toyota refused to even let me buy one used ... cash ... sight unseen. That kind of dishonesty about the RAV4-EV is what GM tried to spin about the EV1. That's the kind of dishonesty that drove GM out of business.

Sorry about the baggage ... some of these people though. Well ... if this walkin talkin spin doctor doesn't interfere ... it looks like the factory PHEV Prius wait will soon be over.

[DeadPhish]

I spoke to Irv Miller at the Wash DC Gen 3 Prius event. Yes he is not all that excited by the PHEV 'option'....not many within Toyota are overly enthused it appears to me. I know that I'm not really enthused about them and I sell them. I wouldn't buy one given the current state of technology and infrastructure.

IMO the vast, vast, vast, vast majority of the buying population has no interest at all right now in the PHEVs. PHEVs and EVs are a primary part of the future of personal transportation but right now is too early. Right now the next world to conquer is getting buyers to take the first step away from the basic ICE technology of the 20th Century. That first step would be gas-electric hybrids.

[burritos]

Originally Posted by DeadPhish

I spoke to Irv Miller at the Wash DC Gen 3 Prius event. Yes he is not all that excited by the PHEV 'option'....not many within Toyota are overly enthused it appears to me. I know that I'm not really enthused about them and I sell them. I wouldn't buy one given the current state of technology and infrastructure.

IMO the vast, vast, vast, vast majority of the buying population has no interest at all right now in the PHEVs. PHEVs and EVs are a primary part of the future of personal transportation but right now is too early. Right now the next world to conquer is getting buyers to take the first step away from the basic ICE technology of the 20th Century. That first step would be gas-electric hybrids.

Until gas goes above 6 dollars a gallon, EV's and PHEV's will be niche vehicles. Perhaps the car lobby can out lobby the oil lobby and have a $3 tax imposed on every gallon of gas?

[radiocycle]

Well, I still hve a $500 deposit down at the local Toy dealership, waiting for the first Plug-in to hit the showroom floor. And I'm not first in line, so there are a number of us who are ready for PHEVs. I'd trade this '10 in a heart beat if I could have a plug!

[hill]

That's ANOTHER sore spot. The 150 or so being delivered this year are going to "Fleet use". We tried & tried to find a way onto THAT list. Gawd, you'd think I was speaking Navajo ... and asking them to let me look at alien bodys in area 51 ... because NO one knows ANYTHING except how to shrug their shoulders.



Well ... when ever they DO get here ... they've already announced the battery chemistry will be Nickel Metal hydride and not li-ion.

[efusco]

I hear ya Hill. It is people like you and I and many others here on PriusChat that helped propel the Prius II into the mainstream...while on one level it appears Toyota has begun to recognize that, on another they seem to ignore the potential of using us to do the same with PHEVs and EVs. The world is a different place than it was when the EV1 and RAV4 came out.

Use in fleets is just silly and pointless, it needs to be in the hands of enthusiasts that can exploit the potential of a PHEV and get the word out to a much broader audience.

[cycledrum]

Originally Posted by DeadPhish

IMO the vast, vast, vast, vast majority of the buying population has no interest at all right now in the PHEVs. PHEVs and EVs are a primary part of the future of personal transportation but right now is too early. Right now the next world to conquer is getting buyers to take the first step away from the basic ICE technology of the 20th Century. That first step would be gas-electric hybrids.

+11

The manufacturers need to keep improving the battery and hybrid technology so buyers don't need to pay too much more for a hybrid than conventional equivalent.

[Rybold]

Sheesh. I thought GM was the only company that pulled stuff like this. This is very disappointing news. I've been looking forward to the Prius PHEV becoming available to the public. We've already had the whole discussion on Toyota having invested a lot of cash into the current HSD technology and wanting to make that "the standard" for the automobile industry, so I'll just simply remind everyone of that. I'm thinking that maybe Toyota, setting the trend (at least in the public's eyes, where other automakers are watching) is hoping that other automakers will follow hybrids instead of trying to create PHEVs. This will help Toyota's profitability and dominance in the mid-term, as they are the leader in hybrid technology. HOWEVER, Toyota cannot ignore the fact that other automakers have already announced electrics and PHEVs in the pipeline. Toyota needs to wake up and realize that TOYOTA needs to MOVE FORWARD into the next technology and become the leader in PHEV technology instead of playing GM and refusing to move forward to the next technology. (I hope Toyota is reading this)

Something I've mentioned before, and many at Priuschat may dislike me for saying this, but I think that in the *near* term, Toyota should market the PHEV as a specialty/novelty item and charge forty or fifty thousand dollars for it. It's going to be low production anyway, and they might as well make some profit off of it. (Consider the Acura NSX, Mitsubishi GTR, Toyota Supra, Corvette ZR1, Mercedes AMG, BMW M. These are all low production specialty/novelty vehicles. Toyota should make the PHEV Prius into the same thing (in the near term) to fund development and finance the vehicle's R&D). When people see one of these specialty vehicles, or a Tesla, they think "wow. neat." If Toyota charges $50K for a 2011 PHEV Prius, the public's view of it will become much more favorable. A big part of it is psychology. If it's expensive, it's favorable.)

[Cacti]

Doug Coleman stated this regarding PHEV:

"As the brand manager for Prius, Coleman also has spent a lot of time talking to Prius owners, because he believes the same demographic will be the first to buy a plug-in car. “They’re not crazy with money. Even the people who are most passionate look for value. Or at least want to be able to see where they can get all their needs met,” he said. “It’s not just the pure technology.” Coleman said he would be “shocked” if Prius owners all jumped at plug-in hybrids. Some are going to love plugging in and others will never ever want to plug in."

If PriusChat forum members will not embace PHEV who will?

[hampdenwireless]

Originally Posted by Cacti

If PriusChat forum members will not embace PHEV who will?

They have. They have risked their Pri' , thousands of dollars and lots of time to try plug in via third party plug in kits. They have spent from $2000 to $12000 from messages I have seen on kits that have varying ranges of power. Its clear if they are willing to go through this level of work to get a plug in that they will buy one for the price of a solar roof or greater.

There is a market for plug ins, I would estimate with a price range as high as $8000 over the non plug in price. At $3000 it will become a mass market item.