Toyota to Start Selling Plug-in Hybrid Prius in Two Years

13 December, 2009 11:37:00

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Toyota, the world's biggest seller of hybrid cars, said on Monday it plans to begin commercial sales of its plug-in hybrid Prius at affordable price in about two years.

The company aims to sell “several tens of thousands” of plug-ins a year globally. Approximately 600 Prius Plug-In Hybrid units will be introduced in Japan, the United States, and Europe over the first half of 2010, for use by governments and businesses.

In Japan, Toyota will lease approximately 230 units to government ministries, local governments selected for the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's EV & PHV Towns program, corporations such, as electric power companies, and other entities.

In the United States, approximately 150 units will be provided to government agencies, corporations, universities and research agencies for use in a demonstration program aimed at collecting driving data and spurring the development of battery-charging infrastructure.

Toyota's research shows that in the UK and France, more than 80 percent of car journeys
cover a distance of less than 25km (16 miles); in the UK around 80 percent are less than
10km (6.2 miles) long.

In Europe, Toyota will lease approximately 200 units, with approximately 100 going to the City of Strasbourg, France. The Prius Plug-in Hybrid will also be introduced in the United Kingdom and Portugal, with the company also considering 10 other European countries, including Germany and the Netherlands, along with countries in other regions, such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The Prius Plug-in Hybrid Concept is based on the third-generation gasoline-electric Prius and is equipped with a lithium-ion battery.

The Prius Plug-in Hybrid can be charged using an external power source such as a household electric outlet, and is the first vehicle produced by Toyota to be propelled by a lithium-ion battery. Further, due to the battery's expanded capacity, the vehicle has an extended electric-vehicle driving range, enabling use as an electric vehicle (EV) for short distances, while for medium and long distances, after battery power depletes to a level no longer allowing EV driving mode, the vehicle functions as a conventional gasoline-electric hybrid vehicle (HV). Thus, use is not constrained by remaining battery power or availability of battery-charging infrastructure.

The Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid has a targeted electric-vehicle cruising range of approximately 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) on a full charge (six miles further than the conventional Prius) at speeds up to 62mph, before switching to conventional gasoline-electric hybrid operation. The Prius PHEV can be fully recharged from a 230V power supply in 1.5 hours. It gets 57 kilometers a liter in mileage, while emitting just 41 g/km of CO2.

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