Hey, what is that dusting the Prius on GT 5 track? A Nissan Versa?

Check out below for another screenshot from Gran Turismo 5 and below that for a YouTube video of the 2nd Gen Prius in Gran Turismo 4.

Toyota's "Prius Team" was nice enough to recently post some special preview details on the 2011 Prius right here in the PriusChat forums. The big news? Well, there really isn't any. Toyota will now offer the Black exterior paint color with the Bisque interior color option. This was not an option available on the 2010 Prius, but Toyota has added it based on customer feedback. No other color changes.

There are still no hard details on the Plug-In (PHEV) Prius, but we at least finally have a picture of what it'll look like.  Toyota has chosen the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show as the place to release more details, but it doesn't start until September 15th.  What we do now know is that the charging port for the Plug-In Prius will be just below the driver's side mirror (same side as the gas tank door).  We also know that Toyota will release 200 test vehicles to Japan, 150 to the US, and another 150 to Europe to commercial and government fleets by early 2010.

Say goodbye to the 2009 Prius, and say hello to the 2010!  Yesterday, Toyota updated toyota.com/prius to reflect the new 2010 model.  This change-over has also revealed new information on available Prius accessories, including a pretty rockin' Lower Rocker Molding.

You can check it all out at www.toyota.com/prius.

Thanks to PriusChat forum member, Paradox, for the peeled eyes.

That's right, ladies and gentlemen.  Today the first set of 2010 Prius units hopped a boat out of Japan and are headed out to the rest of the world.  According to Toyota, the first units are the ones shown in these photos and are mostly "quality units".  But "we're hoping some of the very first production units will make it on if they're headed to the destination of that boat's port of entry.

In case you missed tonight's Earth Day Live Q&A with Toyota's Doug Coleman, there was a big announcement for the Prius community that the 2010 Prius WILL have USB/iPod integration.  There are a couple of catches, though.  The USB integration won't be available out of the factory until September, and it will only come with the Navigation option package that is available in the Prius III, IV, and V. 

Ever wanted to watch over 2 hours of 2010 Prius-related content?  Then Toyota has done you a favor!  Get on over to Toyota's YouTube page and check out over 30 new 2010 Prius "How To" videos.  The videos go over everything from Bluetooth to using the mirrors.  Plus, they're all available in HD.

Here's Toyota's YouTube page:  http://www.youtube.com/ToyotaUSA

And here is a convenient embedded player with a playlist of all of the 2010 Prius videos:

TORRANCE, Calif., April 21, 2009 - - Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc., announced manufacturer’s suggested retail prices (MSRP) today for the all-new 2010 Prius midsize hybrid, scheduled to go on sale beginning in late May at Toyota dealers nationwide.

The third-generation Prius will be available in one grade with a starting MSRP of $21,000. The Prius will be offered with five levels of popular standard equipment combinations.

According to sources giving information to Bloomberg, Toyota is poised to announce 2010 Prius pricing TOMORROW, April 21st.  This is a day early from most PriusChat forum member guesses, but I don't think anyone will mind.  Here's the real juicy piece of news:  Toyota plans to cut the base price of the 2010 Prius by $1,000 down to $21,000 compared to the 2009 Base MSRP of $22k.

KBB didn't rank them 1-10, but they did list them by Combined MPG and the Prius is at the top, so that says to me that the Prius tops KBB's Top 10 Green Cars list. 

Here's the press release: