2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In: 15 mile EV range, 87 MPGe, $32,000

2012 Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid Now Available for Online Ordering!

Not Yet!
2012 Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid Now Available for Online Ordering - Softpedia

 

I guess we will see. But my guess is Toyota will have a hit with the Plug In Prius. I think it hit's the soft spot of all around automotive utility, and hybrid/electric benefit. I think there are a lot of people still not ready for a full Electric and the dependency on charging and range anxiety that creates.

Think about it. I think for a lot of people 15 miles a day on pure electric will get a lot of chores done. Couple that with the efficiency of HSD and you are going to have a fantastically efficient vehicle.

I'm impressed with the relatively fast recharge times.

I think the Plug In Prius will be a vehicle you can use to great efficiency AND also use as your primary, all the time vehicle, without some of the concerns a full EV creates.

If I had a garage? I'd want a plug in Prius in it....

 

You're in Washington State and enjoy low electric rates. In California we have tiered rates. Tier 1 and 2 cost $0.12 and $0.14, but tier 3 jumps to $0.30/kWh. The tiers are designed such that regular household usage pretty much fills tier 1 and 2, causing an electric car to fall into the expensive tier 3.
The time-of-use electric schedule (that's E-9 for PG&E) offers very low rates at night, but you are penalized by having to pay $0.30/kWh for your regular household electricity. That kills the cost advantage of the plug-on Prius.
A third solution is to have a separate, 2nd electric meter for the electric vehicle, so that the ordinary household electricity is unaffected on the first meter. However, the installation cost of a 2nd meter is thousands of dollars. Not really worth it for a car that gives only a few hundred dollars per year of fuel cost savings.

So, I think to make this Prius viable PG&E needs to come with a fix for the rate schedule, and Toyota also needs to drop the price to about $2000 over a regular Prius.

 

^^ Some flexibility might help you.

My home consumes between 300 kwh a month (spring and fall) and 600 kwh a month in summer and winter. PV would be great, but my local covenants are getting in the way. If I manage to put up a solar water heater I expect my electricity usage to be about 1/2 of what it is now.

How does that fit into your PG&E tiers ?

 

Finally! This is bad news for GM, really bad actually, though the Volt seems to be killing itself without any help to be honest.

 

Way over priced! Toyota you missed the boat on this. Here was a chance to even pull further away from the greedy status quo electric/hybrid auto industry. Main street folks, you got to sell to main street folks!! I will pass on my reservation. I love my 10' prius, but to pay some $8500 more for 15 miles? I don't think so.
Should have been no more than $26-27K to start

 

Maybe you got your 2010 for $21k before but you won't now. I paid $22,500 for mine but these days a new Prius is going for $24,500. This thing is about $5k more than that (tax credit is $2500)--than a base--and includes NAV and battery plug in.

I can't say if I'll buy one or not when my lease is up. However, if what we're reading here is accurate you can bet this thing will sell well. It will be a success. Effectively a few thousands bucks more for plug in is a really small premium and people will gobble that up. Toyota has a winner with this, I'm pretty sure of that.

 

EEEEK!


Frost - Tony Evan & Danny
scary scary

still . . . Tony's my fave . . . he looks like Neo in that shot . . . right out of Matrix

What? Um - no . . . . . in CA, there are almost a dozen electric utility companies. Their rates differ wildly. Our tier 1 starts just above 6¢/kwh and goes up higher than your 30¢.

.

 

I looked at the difference and asked myself whether I would pay this amount for those options. Was posted this somewhere else!

2012 Base Prius Plug-In Model vs. 2011 Prius II = (without dest. charges)!
There may be a price bump for 2012; $32,000 - $23,520 = $8,480.00 - Tax credit = $5980.00

What do I get for the $5,980.00 difference over a Prius II. Please feel free to comment and correct for inaccuracy!

Plug-In option,
Entune, includes Bing, Pandora; real-time info, traffic, weather, fuel prices, sports, stocks.
Navigation,
Backup Camera,
Heated seats,
Sirius/XM Sat radio,
HD radio,
Remote AC,
Hands-free phone capability, phone book access,
Advanced voice recognition,
Text-to-speech with programmed and customizable text responses,
Bluetooth music streaming wireless technology
Smart key system x 3 doors
6-way adjustable seats for both driver and front passenger
Alloy wheels
Tax credit = $2500.00

Standard Audio AM/FM CD player with MP3/WMA playback, (Standard on Prius II)

 

Russell Frost is in the passenger seat in that picture.

 

It should be compared to a Prius III or IV, not the II. This closes the price gap more realistically.

 

^^ Tax credit ?

 

Thanks, I forgot about the tax credit!

Did this because some members see the price difference for the 15 mile EV only and do not take into account the added options and, Duh.... the tax credit.

 

I saw the Prius III costs $24,520.00 which is $1,000 more than the II. The III has a 6-disc changer and 2 more speakers that the base PHV does not have.

 

For the first case, I'm not sure it's fair to lump in the an EV's usage into the tier 3 rate. Once it becomes part of your household, it's not really fair to charge the higher marginal rate. I'd go by the average of the total. The said, CA electricity is a ripoff compared to WA state (I just moved back from WA again).

WA seems to also have tiers, take a look at http://pse.com/aboutpse/Rates/Pages...edule_x0020_Type=Rate and Adjusting Schedules and http://www.seattle.gov/light/accounts/rates/ac5_RateAreaMap.htm. But, the rates are WAY more reasonable than ripoff PG&E.

Many years ago, I lived in Seattle (under Seattle City Light) instead of a Puget Sound Energy area and it seemed like my average price per kwh was WAY higher under PSE. Apparently, that still holds true today. Seattle City Light < PSE << PG&E.

There's an estimator via Understand Your Electric Charges. It looks it estimator assumes no TOU billing. You can try a zip code like 95136 which is in San Jose or 94112 which is in SF. Rate Options mentions there are basically two rate options: E-1 and E-6, the latter is TOU based.

There was a bunch of discussion about PG&E at http://priuschat.com/forums/ev-elec...le-do-you-qualify-lower-electricity-rate.html.

 

Ticket for not wearing seatbelt!

 

3 door sks is worth the price of admission. i put the plug in value at $3500., the other options at $3000. whether you want them or you don't is another story. so $32,000. less tax credit = $29,500. less $6500. above = $23,000. so, it's a fair price.

 

Posted again, because the very important Tax Credit was not listed!

2012 Base Prius Plug-In Model vs. 2011 Prius II = (without dest. charges)!
$32,000 - $23,520 = $8,480.00 - Tax credit = $5980.00

For $5,980.00 difference over a Prius II. you get: the following added options!

Plug-In option,
Entune, includes Bing, Pandora; real-time info, traffic, weather, fuel prices, sports, stocks.
Navigation,
Backup Camera,
Heated seats,
Sirius/XM Sat radio,
HD radio,
Remote AC,
Hands-free phone capability, phone book access,
Advanced voice recognition,
Text-to-speech with programmed and customizable text responses,
Bluetooth music streaming wireless technology
Smart key system x 3 doors
6-way adjustable seats for both driver and front passenger
Alloy wheels
Tax credit = $2500.00
eATPZEV (HOV lane access)

Standard Audio AM/FM CD player with MP3/WMA playback,(Standard on Prius II)

 

Don't forget eATPZEV (HOV lane access).

Prius PHV is II.IV.III.