I wonder how much more it will cost. Do we know how many kwh the pack is? If it is over 4kwh, it will qualify for $2,500 tax credit.

I am assuming it will not have the NiMH pack in there.

Nevermind, silly question. If someone's in EV, they'll likely go easy on the pedal.

Silly -> Wouldn't the EV range depend on how one drives? Stomp your foot in a Tesla Roadster and the miles left on charge goes down more quickly I believe.

Sold. 3 miles to work each day. That gets me to work and back, and home for lunch and back each day.

Cost cost cost....... Toyota is always thinking ahead!

Look at the bright side, you do 2 miles to warm the heater at the start of your commute then another 2 in the middle and finish the trip on gas when the battery won't take you any further. A 15 mile commute using electric for 10 to 12 and gas for the remainder and you have a heater that works. Not such a bad compromise for the time being.

Smart and good engineering. Yet another example of Toyota low risk and likely low cost incremental improvements to the Prius - instead of using a new technology before it's ready for mass production (did anyone mention the Volt). Hopefully, after a few years of mass production of a PHEV12.4, Toyota and it's manufacturing partners/suppliers will have learned and developed methods to reduce battery costs and we'll next see a PHEV20.

I think it still will be pricey but to use a NA analogy Toyota is going for singles rather than swinging for the fences like GM is trying to do. If the first Plugin is a 20 km EV the next gen after that might be a 30 or 40 km EV. When the technology is improved and they feel that they have it down pat then why not a 100 km EV.

This is just the beginning!

What??

Seriously, yep, I agree.

My guess is they are using a 4 kWh lithium ion battery to achieve this. For reference, my Hymotion pack averages about 260 watts to 290 watts per mile in pure EV. If they decided not to add any more range, then companies like Hymotion will have an opportunity to offer bigger packs in the after market.

I must admit that I'm a Toyota fan also. However, GM will deserve some credit if the Volt is actually delivered and "successful". Yes...I know about GM's past mistakes with delivering a product to the PC demographic. I'm sorry...but I hold some of my criticism until 11/2010 (proposed release date of the Volt).

In fact, I'm cheering for GM. :cheer2:

If nothing else, the Volt mania is pushing Toyota and others to develop a PHEV of their own. I admire Toyota's strategy of incremental improvements of HSD (less risk and a chance to make a profit). It is similar to the personal computer industry model.

What speed are you going at for this number? Is this including accelerations and decelerations? An older chart would imply lower watt-hours per mile for most steady driving speeds, less than 230 wH/mile for anything but interstates:
Prius Palm Mileage Simulator

トヨタ自動車は、今年末からフリート（大口）向けのリース販売を始めるプラグイン・ハイブリッド車（ＰＨＶ）のＥＶ走行距離を２０キロメートル程度に設定する。

Works for me. What I got out of the article was that this was an interim step and it was being rolled out to a select group of people. Who knows what John Q. Public will get.