PHEV Prius for $48,000????

You are drastically over estimating payback time. The government will give you a tax credit for almost the entire $3K. It sounds like the phv prius will not line up exactly with prius options so your dealer may overcharge, but the phv is a much better deal.

Your salesman is lieing about it being available in Japan. There have been various test cars highly monitored by toyota, but these have been changing and not really for sale.

 

Do you know for sure that there will be a tax credit for this? If there is, then it could be an immediate payback. I will certainly monitor the process with the dealer and report back. Palo Alto may have the highest density of Prius's in the country. If not, then it is close. There were already 50 deposits ahead of mine.

 

Austingreen beat me to it.

PHV Prius qualifies for $2,917 tax credit and HOV lane access in CA.

If the plugin premium is accurate, plugin option will be very popular. Like I said, charge often and save money. use the plugin pack to the full extend and get your money worth.

 

Federal tax credit works like this. Minimum 4kWh plugin pack qualifies for $2,500. Additional kWh gets $417. PHV Prius has 5.2 kWh pack so it would qualify for $2,917.

 

It would be worth it just for the HOV lane access. My current HOV stickers expire on Dec 31. A few years ago, when the stickers had years of life, a Prius with the stickers would sell for $3K to $4K more than a Prius without. I do not commute on the freeway, but people who do would gladly pay $3K for 3 years of HOV solo access.

 

I don't think The volt has an advantage here at all. The very privileged Members of this forum Who were lucky enough To have tested the PHEV Have demonstrated that The performance is definitely at another level. 100 miles per gallon Will no longer be Dominated by the elite hypermiler.

The only real question here Is not so much The price of the PLEV, But when gm Will publish real figures On the volts true capabilities, Because if cant also Average 75 miles per gallon In overall Performance it will also fail Making a prius a good deal At a price point 35,000 and under.

The leaf It is it different category Since it will be cheaper after Incentives But it still has the 100 mile range limitation Which puts the car into a different class

 

I went back and looked at the contract. It only says that the price will be MSRP. I asked the salesman about the $3000. He said that he could not put that in writing, because it has not been announced by Toyota. He assured me in an email that it will be close to $3000. So, I hope that he is correct. If I do not like the price or have any other reason to back out, then I can. In any case, the 2012 plug-in Prius is not going to cost $48,000.

 

Thats ok. Prus Team has hinted $300-$500 per PHV mile. PHV-13 Prius would have premium of $3,900 to $6,500. With the tax credit, it is $983 to $3,583. Very reasonable.

 

Yep - That would essentially put the aftermarket PHEV kits out of business. Who would spend such ridiculous amounts of money on a PICC kit if Toyota's own system were $3,000?

I suppose there'd still be a market for upgrading all of those Gen-2 Prius's out there.

 

Heh, people like me who want a 40+ mile range =). Toyota's system isn't going to be the end-all solution--there is always room for improvement. They're trying to target the mass audience that just wants improved mileage, they're not really catering to those of us that want a pseudo electric car.

Oh, and don't forget--there are lots (and lots) of Priuiii on the road today that aren't PHEV's yet =).

Andrew

 

Aftermarket kits will still have plenty of customers. I plan on keeping my 2010 8 to 10 years, and at some point I will upgrade it to a plug in if a reasonably priced kit offers 40+ mile range! A Prius with phv as a $3000 or so option will force kits to be priced similarly!

 

I expect Toyota or the dealer to eat up most if not all of the tax credit, and to only find the plug-in option on the higher trim cars.

 

To start with, I imagine the PHV will be standard in six years!

 

I'm surprised you signed a contract and knew so little about what you were actually signing. Maybe he's right on the $3,000, maybe he's not. Considering he lied about the 7 years thing (case in point when the first prius went on sale in Japan vs North America) or he simply was blowing smoke up your you know what I'd not take his comments with a lot of stock.

Volt will cost a good bit less than $42k after credits. Certainly, as a lease car it is at least semi-attractive. From a pure cost analysis it's inferior to the Prius, there is no question at all. Even if it can do 50 mpg after it drains electric battery it's inferior. The Leaf is the only reasonable competitor that will be on the market soon--from a cost analysis.

It would be nice if this can be done for $3000 but I'm betting it will cost more than that based on everything I've read.

I have no numbers but would bet less than 1% of Priuses on the road now have or ever will have an after-market plug-in kit, so it's really a fringe variable. Maybe even 1/10th of a percent, even.

 

While I agree that PHEVs will always be a niche market, I think that a factory supported PHEV option on a car that does not have the 34mph limitation will sell fairly well. And if Toyota added a third PHEV battery to make the range 21 miles, it will sell very well.

For now, I just wish it would be on sale, period

 

Lol Thank goodness Car Toys did not Feel that way. Modding your car, Ripping out the factory Options and installing after market upgrades aa is big big big business and about 1 percent of it makes financial sense.

$ 5000 tires and wheels upgrades typically add less then 1000 dollars in value to the vehicle. The list goes On and on. Yeah i would stop there except that a plugin option that better fits needs of the driver and reduces gas consumption is actully that after market option that falls into the 1 percent category

 

In any case, it ain't gonna be $48,000!

 

Is that price in Canadian dollars