Toyota: Plug in Hybrids will have limited appeal (from N.Y. Times)

Here is a link to an article on the front page of the Times. the gist of the article is that Toyota made a presentation at a conference in New York in which they said that the added weight and complexity will reduce milage for those that regularly drive beyond the plug in range:

Toyota: Plug-in Hybrids Will Have Limited Appeal - Wheels Blog - NYTimes.com

It includes a nice pic of a Blizzard Pearl 2010.

Roy

I'm inclined to agree that plug-ins have a limited market in the near term, but I think it looks a lot better in the longer term. I'd buy one right now if our household power were from a renewable source. Unfortunately, we get our power from IREA, which swears up and down that dinosaurs still roam the earth making hydrocarbons, and will defend its coal-fired power plant investments to the death or bankruptcy.

This may mean Toyota has a better solution. I am thinking a smaller and lighter pure EV?

Prius has linited appeal to, and it was very limited in the early days of Prius.
Build it and converts will come.

I guess we'll be finding out how 'obsolete' the Prius is becoming (according to some) .... based on sales of the 2010.

I really don't think it will fade away. I like my car a lot and the new one is much better.

This may seem like nitpicking, but ....

what happens on a plug-in hybrid when one rarely uses gas in the tank? Don't you end up with some pretty stale gasoline after a while? Or do you end up using fuel stabilizer?

Or, I suppose plug-in folks end up using gas anyway for the freeway, high-load conditions.