REPORT: 2010 Prius PHEV to feature 12-mile-plus EV range
by Jeremy Korzeniewski on Apr 20th 2009 at 12:44PM 
According to the Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun in Japan, Toyota's upcoming plug-in Prius will have a range of a little over 12 miles (20 kilometers) on electric power only. That's significantly less than the EV range that's planned for PHEV competitors like the Chevy Volt, but it also means the PHEV Prius should cost considerably less than vehicles with larger battery capacities.
Toyota plans to launch the latest plug-in Prius sometime in 2010, but it won't be available on the retail level. Instead, the Japanese automaker plans to continue testing the gas-saver by selling them only to fleet customers. Currently, the 2010 Toyota Prius comes equipped with a tried-and-true nickel metal hydride battery, and Toyota is using these PHEV fleets as test-beds for the newer and more powerful lithium ion units. Thanks for the tip, Danny!
[Source: Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun via PriusChat]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Lou Grinzo 1:47PM (4/20/2009)
An affordable, 12-mile-battery-range Prius vs. a much less affordable Volt with a 40-mile range? I suspect that the Prius will outsell the Volt by something like 3:1 to 5:1 in the first year both are on the market competing head to head.
I know that for my use, a 12-mile range would let me do a high portion of my driving (over 50%) completely on electrons from the "100% green" electricity I signed up for. Lower cost per mile plus no CO2? Priceless.
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jon 8:21AM (4/21/2009)
All you hybrid loving hippies don't know facts... The Prius has a larger carbon footprint than an F-150!
So lets stop praising these band-wagon hybrids... Just live closer to work!
Chris M 10:40PM (4/21/2009)
Jon, what right-wing windbag pundit did you get that bit of nonsense from?
Larger carbon footprint? It can't be from actual usage, as the Prius typically gets 40 to 50 mpg even without plugging in, while the F150 struggles to reach 18 mpg.
It can't be from the energy needed for production, as the F150 is much bigger and heavier and requires more steel. Steelmaking uses lots of coal and produces lots of CO2, making a 100 pound NiMH hybrid battery doesn't produce nearly as much CO2 as making the extra quarter ton of steel in the F150,
It can't even be from lifespan, as both are likely to reach 10 years and 200,000 miles - and the Prius is more reliable than the F150!
Oh, I suppose if you made a really ridiculous comparison, like hauling tons of gravel, then they might come close due to the Prius having to make more trips. But for any sane comparison, the Prius easily wins the low carbon high efficiency contest.
Cellien 1:50PM (4/20/2009)
12 mile range is beyond terrible. That wouldn't get me half way to work...
Curious to what the lithium batteries do though.
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downtoearth 3:03PM (4/20/2009)
Cellien:
> 12 mile range is beyond terrible. That wouldn't get me half way to work...
It is not supposed to get you to work in all electric mode. It's task is to extend electric assist in order to drive fuel consumption even further.
One of the most significant fallacy electric car proponents often commit is expecting that transition from petroleum to electric motoring should occur immediately, with rapid introduction of all electric vehicles.
This sounds especially irrational considering that over the last 30 years there was virtually no improvement of fuel economy. Perfect example: http://sniperslaststand.blogspot.com/2008/09/no-improvement-in-fuel-consumption.html
Plug-in hybrids with some 40 miles of all electric range are actually all the stuff we need (due to perfect driving patterns matching for most of us) but even those, considering current state battery technology will have too high price entry point.
What we need is gradual introduction of electric range/assist with affordable sticker price. And that's exactly what Toyota is doing.
Chris M 3:05PM (4/20/2009)
So, it'll only go 12 miles on electricity from the outlet, you'd go the rest of the way on gasoline power. Still, that would reduce the amount of gasoline, and remember, the Prius gets about 50 mpg when running on gasoline.
The standard non-plug Prius uses NiMH batteries, and their first PHEV prototype went just 8 miles on a double sized NiMH battery, but these first fleet PHEV vehicles are the ones they are testing the new LiIon batteries in. So, yeah, that 12 mile range is for the LiIon battery version.
Not everyone has a long commute, some drivers would do just fine with a 12 mile EV range. Still, I hope Toyota decides to offer an optional "extra range" battery for those with longer commutes who are willing to pay extra to save even more fuel.
tom engineer 9:25PM (4/20/2009)
Not a personal attack, but maybe some people should consider living closer to work. Driving 30+ miles each way, each day for each person (or +12,000/yr just to commute) will always use a lot of gas/energy/resources. Some people have more options than others, but if everyone minimized their distance from work (saving priceless time, too), we'd all be using a lot less fuel instantly, in any vehicle.
I'm all for plug-ins, and hope at least some of them offer a reasonable range. But asking for a 80+ mile EV range (which I've heard), then great fuel economy, a large, comfortable vehicle, and a cheap price...well, it's just not going to happen anytime soon. there are easier ways to achieve the goal.
Think about it this way: a 12-15 mile plug-in could be affordable, and it could cover one-way of a typical 10-15 mile commute, reducing fuel use by half versus an already-efficient hybrid. This means using just ONE FORTH asmuch gas as a non-hybrid current large sedan. So if all Americans switched to such "not-so-good" plug-ins, we would COMPLETELY eliminate oil imports. cool.
JustZisGuy 10:54PM (4/20/2009)
tom engineer said:
This means using just ONE FORTH asmuch gas as a non-hybrid current large sedan. So if all Americans switched to such "not-so-good" plug-ins, we would COMPLETELY eliminate oil imports. cool.
Not quite. According to U.S. government statistics, 2/3 of oil use is for transportation, and, of that, 2/3 is used for gasoline. So, 4/9 of total petroleum consumption, or about 9.2 million barrels per day out of 20.7 million barrels per day, can be attributed to burning gasoline. U.S. net petroleum imports are 12.0 million barrels per day.
So, even if you could cut gasoline consumption overnight by 3/4, saving 6.9 million barrels per day, the U.S. would still need net imports of 5.1 million barrels per day. Amazingly, that would still leave the United States as the #1 oil importing nation in the world, tied with Japan.
And all of that assumes that U.S. production does not decline. U.S. production has been on an almost continual downward slope for nearly 40 years now. (IIRC the peak was in 1971, at a little under 10 million barrels per day). The figures for 2003-2006 are 5.7, 5.4, 5.2, 5.1.
Sorry - the reality is even worse than you were thinking, it seems.
Cellien 3:31PM (4/21/2009)
@tom:
I think it's asking less for a decent priced higher range PHEV than to tell everyone in outlying cities to move closer to the city, personally. Not to mention the effects of that on city congestion, real estate, and crime. I also don't want to RENT an apartment for the same price I pay to OWN a home. Renting is just stupid money sense. BTW, I live 30+ miles away from work, but my wife and I carpool in our choice of 4 cylinder vehicles (one truck, one car) that together brand new cost less than one Toyota Prius.
Marcel F. Williams 1:58PM (4/20/2009)
This is exactly why GM should offer consumers a cheaper, 20 mile-battery-range, Volt along with the more expensive, 40 mile-battery-range, Volt.
http://newpapyrusmagazine.blogspot.com/
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MIke!!ekiM 2:47PM (4/20/2009)
Toyota does take Incremental steps. They are going in the right direction, and the car has to be profitable and affordable. But, I wish they were further along in testing.
Exxon expects China gas consumption to triple by 2030. That seems to be a steep usage increase. I'd really like a car with a plug Today.
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brn 2:48PM (4/20/2009)
Keep in mind that the Prius can't run very fast on electric only. It's not really a (low range) Volt competitor. It's simply a way of supplementing the electric boost. Nothing wrong with that, but not in the same league as what the Volt does.
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Chris M 3:13PM (4/20/2009)
The older non-plug Prius and the plug-in conversions were limited in their maximun "EV only" speed by the gearing arrangement and the maximun revving speed of one of the motor/generators.
However, the Toyota plug-in Prius prototypes used a different gearing ratio and a motor/generator with a higher maximum revving speed, that allowed a maximun "EV only" speed of over 60 mph. Further development could raise that limit even higher.
Tim 3:33PM (4/20/2009)
12 mile electric range? At what speed?
Is this plug-in prius:
(a) an EV with a range-extender like the Volt, or
(b) an ICE car with a little electric helper motor?
I suspect (b) which will not compete with a Volt because only an E-REV can go electric at ALL speeds and the Plug-in prius is a hybrid regular ICE car above x-mph.
Then again, neither car will sell in HUGE numbers as long as gas is cheap.
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Tim 3:38PM (4/20/2009)
ChrisM(#8) beat me to itregarding speed. Now let's talk EV range vs fuel cost.
You know... economics and R.O.I.
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jake 3:46PM (4/20/2009)
I expected the range to be somewhere around this, so I'm not surprised. It's success will depend on the price point.
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Stew 3:53PM (4/20/2009)
12 miles wouldn't be very useful for me either.
Toyota should make the battery packs modular. Every car would include one with the price of the car, then those who are willing to sacrifice trunk space for increased range could purchase and plug in additional modules. This concept doesn't seem too difficult.
You could stick with the base 12 mile range, or have 24, 36 or 48 miles. Yay, additional range!
Stew
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Lad 3:55PM (4/20/2009)
Please understand that the Prius, and the Civic Hybrid are ICE cars with electric motor boost while the Volt is a BEV with an ICE gen-set to extent its range. That is a decided difference in the operating mode of the two cars. While the Toyota and Honda are proven and have been able to recoup their R & D, GM is just starting that phase of the Volt and it will take time for the price to be reduced. Some of the companies, like Nissan/Renault have decided to leapfrog the intermediate step of PHEVs and to move directly to Plug-in BEVs. It will be interesting to see if this is a wise step.
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marz 4:20PM (4/20/2009)
That means 120 mi. of my 150 mi. weekly commute is petroleum free. With my current 62 MPG avg., that means I'd use 1/2 gallon per week = $52 / yr. gas cost ! : ) BRING IT ON!
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usbseawolf2000 4:21PM (4/20/2009)
Gas engines are pretty good on the highway already, 48 MPG for the new 2010 Prius. The precious and expensive battery is better to use for "short" trips.
For any round trips over 12 miles (6 miles radius from home), you will most likely be taking the highway anyway!
From practical point of view, it would take 3 hours to charge the battery for every hour of highway driving (using 110 V with 40 Amp fuse). That's not practical at all! It is much faster to fill up the gas tank for long distance highway driving.
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