Featured Toyota Prius Prime now most unaffordable mainstream car in America

what's the nj ev tax credit? in ma, i could have netted an M3 for 31k, makes prime look very expensive, but two completely different cars

 

its 4.7 mil yen (including tax) - so roughly 31.5k US$ or 29k€. In Europe a comparable trim is at least 46k€ - more like 50k€.
The buying power is much lower in Japan these days and the eschange rate wild - but I would still call that quite cheap.

Yeah makes sense. Im not too familar with the line situation - just that its coming from the tsutsumi plan next to nagoya. But then the normal prius is from there as well.

 

Here's the list for what was eligible and for how much, but from what I understand, the funds have been allocated and the program is done for now. I'm glad I bought when I did and got exactly what I wanted. EVs new or used are still sales tax exempt in NJ. I saved $6533 on the Bolt EUV.
Eligible Vehicles | Charge Up New Jersey (njcleanenergy.com)

 

The hybrid starts at 2.75 million yen, and goes to 3.92 million. The lack of low trim PHV in Japan takes the $5000 difference between hybrid and plug in to $12,000. Someone that can buy the base hybrid can't even consider the PHV there. The lack of base trim option why I don't call it cheap. There would be a lot less interest here if it was Limited only.

 

True if you see it from this pov - the US is a little bit of an anomaly here thouh as even in europe the "lowest" trim PHEV has alot of standard features like 12" inch display.

The whole pricing model seems generally more weird (or marketing driven) in the US, e.g. in theory you can cusotmize like crazy but then you cant order exactly what you want. MSRP (especially for low trims) are probably based on whatever sounds good on paper to portray some kind of affordibility - and then its kinda hard to actually get these prices.

 

You no longer have the hybrid to consider when price shopping. Then consumers in Japan potentially have more options for the hybrid than here with the 1.8L available. While the PHV is just a single trim. It's like the early days of hybrid options for ICE models here. The hybrid version didn't have a line of trims like the ICE model; being a hybrid was the trim. Which tended to fairly well equipped in features.

I suspect the limited choices for the PHV is due to the local charging situation, and Toyota's decision to skip of DC charging. Fewer potential buyers can charge at home, and those that can likely have a bigger car budget.

I think our dealership situation plays a part in this. There is no option besides going through a independent middle man.