Article on Fox about the plug-in Prius

I agree, better phev and full electric cars will be out in 2012-2015 timeframe. Like cell phones when they came out originally, they were as big as a suitcase and cost 5k. Now, you can get a cell phone as small as a credit card for 150$ or less.

Battery performances will improve very quickly!! (Price, weight and size)

I suspect phev & electric cars will have the same faith as cell phone in the near future and this will be good for everyone.

Also, most cars including PRIUS lose at least 20-30% in depreciation the first year. So why not buy a used, low mileage phev after it comes out (1-2 years old) ??

I recently purchased a Prius 2005, like new at an amazing price and I love it.

I hope to sell my PRIUS in 2-3 years and then purchase a used phev or a full electric car.

By then, it will make more business sense for me. It will also allow Toyota to fix any issues that may arise with phev revision 1.0.

I can't wait for the phev to come out !! by then, hope I can buy a second hand phev with low mileage at a big discount...

 

With the hit we take in winter I'd like to know the figures on the batteries in temps below 20 F.

 

i have a 14 mile round trip commute. i can do it year round without heat or a/c (almost). if i can do most of that on electric and have the engine battery combo for the rest of my driving, i think it would be well worth it!

 

I don't think they were talking about selling it with nav for $28k but I hope you are right. It would kill the sale of the III or is it 3 trim.

If it were on sale today in austin, most of the prii sold here would be phv. This market will definitely pay a premium for something newer and higher tech that uses less gas. If there are fewer ozone action days because of less tailpipe emissions all the better. Unfortunately toyota has said they will not sell in texas for at least 2 years, and many of the initial adopters may already have a bev or phev before this car hits the market. My prius is only a little over 1 year old, so I will see what is out there in a couple of years and we should have better information.

 

Well, $28k would be better than the 35 one expert said was the likely price!

 

Got a Harley? . . . Vette? . . . . RV? . . . . 5th Wheel? Diesel Duallie? Ski Boat? When you can, let me know how the pay-back is working on any of THOSE ... or any other assortment of transportation for that matter.

Each year, the transportation industry spends 10's of millions upgrading less efficient things, from jet airplanes, to tug boats, to tractor trailer rigs and more. Many of their upgrades are more & more efficient hybrids. Maybe they know something, eh?

 

Personally I think that the chances of anybody seeing a for-real $28,000 PHV will be about the same as me seeing $0.99 a gallon gas....at least in the next few years.
If Toyota is smart, they'll offer this vehicle in up-optioned packages (IV,V) for the well heeled eco elite.
You'll probably see a base model PHV in a few years after all of the whoopdi-doo has died down, but I view the PHV like I do the Volt.
Interesting.
Unaffordable (for me.)

I'm glad that the Aichi Iron Works is lofting this product, since some day more efficient PHVs will come rolling down assembly lines, just as GM has promised a $20K version of the Volt (someday....) but for now this is just going to be a play-pretty for the eco-chic.
My official swag for the MSRPs for first year PHVs....35K.

In time...we'll know.
2012?
13????

 

This isn't really even a matter of speculation IMO. I would count on it.

 

That's a good point. Their only other competition in the U.S. plugin+ICE car arena is the Volt, right? And the Volt is expensive, too, so they don't have to worry too much about the price, given the advantages of the Prius over the Volt in terms of size, gasoline efficiency, and name recognition. So they can probably feel free to put it in the same ballpark as the Volt, maybe undercut it a little, and they'll have a good share of the market.

 

A clever pricing strategy would be to bundle plug-in with some other exclusive feature(s), which are unavailable on other models -- special alloy wheels, paint treatment, GPS or radio upgrade, etc.

 

ejector seat...