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Visitors to the recent Los Angeles Auto Show were treated to the North American debut of Toyota’s 2010 Prius Plug-in Hybrid. The 2010 Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid is built on the same platform as the third-generation Prius but features a first-generation lithium-ion battery. Toyota noted that the plug-in version of its popular hybrid was possible due to one million miles and three years of testing on this new battery. The Prius Plug-in Hybrid will start road testing throughout the world at the end of this month.
Toyota claims that the Prius Plug-in Hybrid is capable of all-electric power at higher speeds and longer distance than its hybrid counterpart. The Prius Plug-in is projected to get 13 miles of all-electric power at speeds as high as 60 miles per hour. Once the Prius Plug-in exhausts its all-electric capabilities, the drive system reverts to the Hybrid Synergy Drive used in the regular Prius. The all-electric power in the Prius Plug-in is possible because of the battery created by Toyota subsidiary Panasonic Electric Vehicle Energy.
The North American debut of the 2010 Toyota Prius Plug-in kicks off the automaker’s global road testing process. Toyota will deliver 350 Prius Plug-ins to customers in Japan and Europe at the end of this month to conduct year-long tests. The company plans to distribute 150 units to American customers starting in January 2010. Toyota has already committed 10 Prius Plug-in units to Xcel Energy’s SmartGridCity project in Boulder, Colorado with additional units heading to New York City, Washington D.C. and other cities. Each Toyota test unit features a data tracking system keeping tabs on battery performance, all-electric mileage and other metrics. Test drivers will also keep track of their driving experiences to help Toyota make the Prius Plug-in more reflective of customer needs.
Toyota looks to be back on track to leading the market in high-mileage vehicles. Critics have pointed out that Toyota has sat on its laurels recently with the decade-long success of the Prius. The automaker is shrewdly using the Prius body as a building point for its next generation of vehicles. The in-house creation of a durable lithium-ion battery shows that Toyota is looking for components that can be used in multiple lines. The 2010 Toyota Prius Plug-in bridges the past with the present in terms of hybrid technology but demonstrates a longer view toward all-electric transportation.
