It’s official, Toyota will have a plug-in Prius ready for the 2011 model year… dubbed the Prius PHV, the flagship hybrid sedan will continue to push green driving mainstream. The efficient set of wheels will add a short all-electric range as well as the ability to drive highway speeds under electric-only power.
Depending on driving conditions, a range around 15 miles will be completely gas free in the new PHV. After that, traditional hybrid technologies kick in, and according to Toyota the Prius can go up to 870 miles on a full tank and full charge… pretty impressive!
Government fleets in the US, Japan, and Europe will get first dibs on leasing the PHV. Japan is particularly lucky as 21 electric charging stations will be built across 11 locations including government offices and train stations near Toyota City in the Aichi Preference district… here’s a rendering of one such station:
Price is still undefined for the next-gen Prius… rumor has it will be around the $33,000 range, which isn’t all-too-bad considering an electric conversion on existing hybrids runs about $11k right now.
Exciting times folksies! All sorts of rad cars are coming our way, and Toyota again is leading the charge… can’t wait to see some of these on the road!
-j
2 Comments
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Love this – now I just need to get one of my own…. hmmm….
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Agreed! And word on the street is Toyota is planning a whole line of Priuses… next one would be a bitter smaller, more affordable… that would mean even better fuel economy!