A plug-in Toyota Prius for less than a regular Prius?
Good for just 70 mpg?
An extra 20 mpg
What’s it like to drive a Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid? What kind of fuel economy does it achieve? What’s the EV range? Time to charge, etc?
MotorTrend answers those questions today in a great article on the plug-in Prius and, well, the plug-in Prius drives pretty much like a regular Toyota Prius, while achieving an extra 20 mpg in fuel economy.
Big deal? Just 20 mpg more? Well, what if the plug-in Prius costs less than a conventional Prius?
Now, I’m not saying that’s going to happen, but according to the MotorTrend article, the lithium-ion battery pack in the plug-in Toyota Prius actually costs less than the NiMH battery pack in the conventional Prius. MotorTrend writes, “lithium-ion batteries presently cost something like $600 per kW-hr, meaning the PPI’s (Prius Plug-In’s) battery alone could run about $2000, less the price of its displaced nickel-metal hydride pack (price: $2729).”
Even if true, there is a more sophisticated battery management system, for instance, that also has to be factored into the costs, as well as a ton of new software. So, there will be additional plug-in costs beyond the battery.
Nevertheless, I’m befuddled. Not long ago Toyota stopped plans to switch to lithium-ion batteries in the third generation Prius because of additional costs. If a conventional Prius only needs 1.3 kwh of battery, wouldn’t lithium be much cheaper than NiMH at $800 for 1.3 kwh’s for lithium verus $2729 for NiMH? So, why did Toyota claim costs would be higher?
Anyway, I wonder, how many more would buy a Prius if they could achieve an extra 20 mpg for the same cost as today’s Prius? Would sales double, triple, more? Would having to plug-in to achieve this extra 20 mpg be too much of a burden for most Prius buyers? And, as a bonus question, would the plug-in Prius outsell the conventional Prius if the conventional Prius was $1500 cheaper?
an extra 20 mg great
Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid is most awaited model in auto industry, If as per your post Toyota prius plug in getting 20mpg over conventional prius then it’s an great development where any consumer can ready to pay the some $1k-$2k to buy this, as per speculations this plug in going to release on 2012, means their is huge time where anything can happend may be conventional prius price may drop to a regular car, and plug-in prius price may be at present prius.
Agreed usb. And I think Toyota is being cost-effectively intelligent. Nonetheless, will most consumers find plugging in too much of a hassle for an extra 20 mpg, especially if a conventional Prius was say $1500 cheaper?
To me, it still just seems wider hybridization offers more bang for the buck via cheaper upfront costs and real world fuel economy.
A lot has happened since then.
Earlier this year, Toyota has secured the supply of Lithium from Argentina. The Korean may no longer (may still slightly) have the competitive advantage with the supply from China.
Panasonic just bought Sanyo so the landscape of the Lithium changed. The recent higher energy laptop battery released from Panasonic are Sanyo technology.
Plugin battery packs also qualifies for tax credit in US. $2,500 for 4kWh with $617 per additional kWh.
By the way, sorry if my answer seemed a little simplistic and obvious, but we’re heading into a 3-day weekend and I’m already checked out. HA!
The apples and oranges comes down to how you approach the pricing and mileage compensation. Yes, if you could get 20 miles more on a charge, at the same vehicle price, people would turn in that direction. However, if you price the vehicle lower, but maintain the current MPG, people have reason to turn in that direction.
The key would be to offer a lower price with higher mileage.
Or we could all just ride bikes. Whatever…
The MT article suggests that such equivalence isn’t the easiest thing to determine, KP.. For sure there is a very real and significant regional factor, minimally.
No doubt that’s an incredibly important point that must eventually be reconciled, but for now, I was just trying to keep it simple. For instance, is it really worth developing a plug-in Prius? If lithium can make the current Prius cheaper, might that not be more important than the plug if we’re only talking an extra 20 miles? And, if this is as cheap and cost-effective as plug-ins are going to be without a battery breakthrough, isn’t it time to accept that hybridization might be the more efficient path to plugging in?
That doesn’t sound right to me, FYI. The i-MiEV uses a lot more batteries than the Prius plug-in.
However, if the plug-in Prius price isn’t close to the current Prius price, then it won’t attract many buyers, that’s for certain.
Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid
http://www.plugincars.com/toyota-prius-plugin-hybrid/review
(excerpt):
Cost Matters
Reuters reported that Toyota plans to sell the Plug-in Prius at a price close to that of the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, which is going for about $48,000 in Japan. Ouch. How many Prius shoppers are going to want the plug-in version if it’s anywhere close to double the price of the conventional version?
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How does MPG apply to a plug-in anyway?
Got the rate for a gallon of electricity?
Without some kind of equivalence between coal generated electricity and a gallon of gas, we’re talking apples and oranges. Perhaps if CAFE was based on carbon consumed per mile and electric companies published their fossil fuel dependency percentage (so the hydro and wind areas don’t get blamed for the coal burners) there would be a better means of comparison.