PHV Release Date

Well, the best answer is what John Carmack usually say when asked.

"when it's done."

 

We will have ours in March of 2013. Right after we turn in our 2010's 3 year lease.

75% of our driving consists of 10 mile trips, and the other 25% of the time it'll just be a regular Prius giving 50mpg, unlimited range and capability to cruise at 75mph on any highway grade carrying four adults.
I don't honestly see how anyone would want anything else.

Twelve months ago I was driving a full sized pickup with four wheel drive and a hemi engine. My wife was driving a V8 powered luxury SUV. Now those vehicles sit while we use the Prius for nearly everything. I can't begin to tell you how this little car has changed our views on transportation.

 

The structure of tax credit. Extra money for a bigger battery you get back by bigger tax credit.

 

We can hope!

 

Personally, I think it is a bit ridiculous that it takes so long. It would be one thing if it were an entirely new vehicle from ground up. But being that it is just a minor change to an existing vehicle and they've been driving prototypes for years now, it seems that it should be ready for sale now.

The only thing I can imagine is holding them up is perhaps sourcing a large enough supply of batteries. Perhaps the demand is a bit high for lithium batteries at the moment?

But Toyota better know that polls have shown that a huge number of people signed up to buy the Nissan Leaf are current Prius owners. Which suggests that Nissan might take a chunk out of Toyota's hybrid sales. The PHV model will help bring back (or keep) those customers.

We are getting a Leaf as soon as mine shows up at the dealer, I've been on the waiting list for almost a year. But we're a two-car family and we currently have two priuses and one has an aftermarket PHEV upgrade. However, I would certainly consider getting a Prius PHV to compliment our Leaf as our two family cars.

 

Yeah, it's been extremely long time, especially when you look at Ford who is anticipating having the eletric Focus out by years end. I'm disappointed but hopefully it's worth the wait.

 

So I have a question about the PHV. I was trying to find the best place for this question, but hopefully I will get some feedback. I just bought the 2010 Prius and my thought was that as the Prius is manufactured in stronger numbers, the battery pack may see a price reduction as they become more readily available. Now, I see that the PHV with have the lithium ion, and Toyota says the battery pack I have will still be in the non-plug in hybrids "at least in the near term". If the lithium ion battery does well for the new Prius and they decide to stop using the battery I have, will I be able to upgrade to the new battery at the point where I need to replace mine, or will mine actually become harder to purchase because they are no longer available, and thus be higher in price? Any thoughts?

 

Flim flam, smoke and mirrors...

If you lease you get no tax credit.
If you can afford to pony up $45000+ ( vehicle + TTF ) then very likely you become subject to AMT and you lose the tax credit, so very sorry.
If you fall into the class of 99+% of your fellow citizens then buying a $45000 commuter vehicle in this economy is insane.

It makes much more sense IMO to provide a vehicle that the common man can afford. Hollywood be damned.

 

Valid question....however. You'll never need to replace your NiMH battery. You can plan on it lasting several hundred thousand miles, seriously. You might want to replace it for the latest and greatest at some time in the next 5 or 10 years but why put a new battery into an 8 y.o. car or 12 y.o. car sometime in the next decade? Get a new car with the technology of the 20's.

 

Are you meaning can you upgrade to a lithium ion battery in your existing 2010 Prius? I'm guessing the answer to that would be no.

Too many variables with computers etc, but there are many EV conversions available for your Prius.

 

Has Toyota come out and said that the price will be 45K for the PHV??? If so, they will LOSE!

This quote from the announcement has me concerned:

"This will help pave the way for an on-sale target in the first half of 2012.

The Plug-in will be initially offered in 14 West and East Coast states (Arizona, California, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Virginia and New Hampshire) where nearly 60 percent of all Prius models are currently sold. Availability in all remaining states will be a year later"

So I guess down here in Louisiana I'll have to wait until 2013 for the PHV, am I reading this right???

If these two things are correct.. 45K price tag, and a 2013 release date.. I guess I'll have to start looking elsewhere... much to my friends, and wife's Joy...

 

I think it is BS they will only offer the PHV in the left & right coast's. I want to buy one next year not wait another year to buy it. Offer it in all states from the get go.

Mike

 

You can't win them all. Many times limited supply dictates rollout strategy. Sucks for people like me who don't live in those areas. But that's just reality.

 

Guess I need to start looking elsewhere.. *sigh*

 

I believe he was talking about the price of the Volt, not PHV Prius.

 

I would hope not..

 

No my response was to a prior post concerning the Volt, not the Prius PHV.

 

Then you are putting out misinformation. The local chevy dealer is leasing them for $350/mo and there is a wait list, since this is one of the first markets. The lease company gets the tax credit. Ofcourse the local toyota dealer will not get any phv prii until sometime in 2013 or after because like louisiana, texas won't fall in line with the peoples republic of california carb laws, and toyota seems to love cali.

I would guess that the phv prius will need to cost much less than the volt if they are going to compete. The rumor numbers were under $30K, but older rumors had nation wide roll out much sooner. My guess is toyota will improve on the prototypes or they would not be taking this long for a product launch. If your in a carb state, it may be worth the wait. Those of us not in the launch area should ignore the phv noise.

 

now.. When you say the prius PHV might start under 30k is that with Leather interior / led lights/ and all nice and dandy? cause i dono if i can wait a year and a half for the PHV hybrid. I might just get the Prius V and add the enginer kit on it. 3500 bucks for 15-18 miles is a bit much so i DONO. GAH! why cant toyota just give us a price and bring the damn car out sooner so people know what to DO WITH THEIR PURCHASES!! rawr! lol

 

There is no toyota pricing available, and no the rumor number was not for prius V trim. In fact we do not know if a sun roof (IV) or 17" wheels will even be available. I have no inside information.


The problem with the kits are Toyota will void your warenty. Toyota also are not making the firmware available, so the engineer kits can not keep the engine off at higher speeds. Other more expensive kits may do this. They also do not qualify for the federal tax incentives.

The tease is to stop you from buying the competition. Your choice on whether this is evil or just business as usual. I vote for business as usual. Remember toyota is partially vertically integrated like gm used to be. Putting out a lithium plug in would damage their nimh investment, and we can not rule out corporate politics for the delay.