Toyota to plug-in the Prius?

Rumors, Rumors, Rumors

Several weeks ago rumors spilled out of Japan claiming that the third generation Prius, and all third generation hybrids, were going to be delayed - at least as far as being lithium powered.

Now, the new rumor coming out of Japan is that Toyota is going to test a plug-in Prius on the streets of Japan.

It would seem a plug-in Prius would be far more battery intensive than simply a conventional Prius with lithium-ion batteries, rather than NiMH batteries. So, does that mean rumors of a lithium-powered Prius are untrue?

Thus far, Toyota has not made any official comments aside from some executives whom claimed a lithium Prius was ready, and that Toyota would produce plug-in hybrid vehicles as soon as the technology was ready.

So, is plug-in technology ready? Is a lithium Prius ready? I guess we're just going to have to wait and see.