Not every potential EV discipline is going to pony up that kind of money. I wonder how the economics work out? I would guess in favor of the hybrid, but I don't have data to figure it our myself or I would.

"Prediction is very difficult, especially of the future."
Neils Bohr

Even at $4+ for gas, a ~$48kUSD out-the-door price tag would put off
many potential buyers, and most definitely me.

But there are a number of unknown factors that may apply and bring
the actual cost paid down:

* federal tax credits
* state tax credits
* price pressure from other PHEVs (think the Insight II)
* pressure from EVs

Price will also be dependent on the availability of batteries. There
will be lots of competition for resources from other makers, even
when there is an in-house battery source.

Lastly, it would not surprise me to learn that Toyota is being very
conservative on the price line this far out. It always looks good, and
gets folks excited when a maker announces new efficiencies and
successive price cuts as the release date approaches.

If the Prius PHEV is really meant to compete with the Mitsubishi iMIEV,
with it's 120 mi range, it's going to have to a significantly lower out-
of-pocket cost to keep me interested.

Although the data is still rather sketchy, at this time I see the combo
of my '08 Gen II and the right EV -- the iMIEV as the best candidate
right now -- as my best vehicle mix in the foreseeable future.

30 kilometres is not quite enough for me to get to work but, my first 10km on petrol and 30 on electric means I cut my petrol consumption by two thirds and my heater works!
If it's $48K US it will be about $80K AU so I can't see me getting a new one. This will be a car reserved for drug dealers and corporate criminals. I hope like other high tech items, the price will fall with time, increased production numbers and further advances in technology.

The types of vehicles we will see on the mass market within the next few years will be dictated by higher mpg and carbon emissions standards. That means there will have to be many low priced cars more carbon and fuel efficient than on the market today. Hybrids and plug-ins will have to be mass-market priced if they are needed in large quantities to meet higher carbon and fuel standards. Cars priced in the $40K range will not generate enough volume to impact those standards. Toyota, Honda et al should be working towards developing more energy efficient cars in the $15-20K range, which will generate the kind of volume needed.

Where would us city folk plug those into?

Extension cord.

charging stations next to the parking spot just like those old parking meters next to each parking spot.
just plug it in.

gm wants to have 14 hybrids by 2012? wow... lets see what this will be.. starter motor assist?

No one said the plug-in was for everyone.

Oh, drat! I was really hoping they might become available no later than the summer of 2011 ... when I'm tentatively planning to trade in Mithril for a new Prius. When that time comes, perhaps I'll have to settle for a new Gen III instead.

Additionally, the "presumed" / "projected" sticker-price of about $40K would likely be well out of reach for us. We had enough trouble figuring out a way to finance our '08 / Pkg 3 at just $28K; that price includes ALL the taxes-n-fees-n-such ... whereas the $40K mentioned above doesn't include ANY of that ....

Where are all the posters who said they're waiting for the plug-in Prius? I'm curious if anyone here would really pay $48K for one.

i want one

but not at that price.

then i buy a second and used prius and put in a big Litium battery.... and pay a lot less
and maybe have a greater range.
with a bigger battery highway speeds are doable without using of the ICE.

So the Prius version will cost about $25K?

Oh wait, I misread it the first time. Never mind.
$50K is pretty steep. I'd rather have a hybrid minivan.

I am about to purchase a 2010 Prius, the out the door price for the level 5 is around 30K. I could not see paying almost 20K more for a plug in.... That makes no sense? I would rather a Tesla (4 door) for 50K - Tesla Motors A much nicer ride for the same amount. Toyota would need to make it much more attractive and marketable. I could not see it being 48K???

Is there an aftermarket company that sells plugin upgrade for the 2010 prius?
Stephen

Mitsubishi also said they plan to cut the price in half by mid-2010 to $21,000.

So when Plugin Prius is launched in 2012, the price will be between $21,000 and $47,800. My wild guess would be around $35,000. It could qualify for $5,000 US government tax credit, depending of the kWh of the pack. It would come out to around $30,000. That's my optimistic educated guess....

This question of Toyota PHEV pricing just shows how far fetched the GM pricing stories for the vapor-Volt were.

Man, not until 2012 will they produce 20,000 to 30,000 vehicles? Perhaps Toyota should just partner with the new and improved GM to produce the Volt line of vehicles.

Not that I have found, the model is still too new with too many changes from last year's model. I have talked to Robb at pluginsupply.com and he has this on his to-do list, but nothing yet. I was hoping to get a conversion on mine sometime later this year, along with maybe a solar panel roof option which works well for me, but it doesn't sound like the roof will be an option for the foreseeable future.

Max