Toyota hopes revamped plug-in sells better than first model

42.4 miles is not enough. EV's are useless unless it can at least match Chevy Bolt's 383km or Tesla's 346km. Why is Toyota wasting their time and resources?

It's a hybrid, not an EV. Range anxiety is still a real issue with Tesla/Leaf etc. drivers either freed or imprisoned by the availability of charging points. With a petrol/gasoline engine on board, Prius PHV drivers have no such concerns, and adept use of regenerative coasting and braking will increase that 68km range.

Toyota hopes revamped plug-in sells better than first model

It should. The last one was difficult to justify, with precious little differentiation from the regular Prius, and a million yen premium for that PHV badge.

This looks like a Prius for grown-ups (and will probably be marketed that way in Japan). The front lights give it a superior presence to the plug-less car's chameleon eyes, and the low-rent nightclub rear lights have been ditched for something much more subdued. I love the Tesla-like vertical info screen and the aerodynamic rear window, too.

With this PHV, we could do most of our annual 20,000 km on cheaper electricity, and might save ¥100,000 a year compared to our Prius Alpha. Assuming stronger residuals, that (now lower) ¥832,000 premium looks a lot less painful. For drivers new to hybrids, the value proposition is even more compelling, although I'll bet that even people without home chargers will buy it for the look, feel and cachet of the PHV.

Most days I drive less than 30 km, so a hybrid that goes 60 km on electricity would work well for me.

This vehicle would compete with the Chevy Volt, another hybrid with relatively low EV range. Toyota should take the plunge and produce an all-electric EV with a range to compete against Tesla. Or, produce a no-frills economy model that could dominate the market.

I am surprised no one mentioned the new Prius PHV is ugly as sin. I owned the second generation model and it was a good looking small car. Unfortunately, I could not get used to the low grade of materials and sound dampening. Granted I moved from a Lexus LS430 and should have known better.

As an aside, I bought athe Lexus LS600hL (hybrid) when it came out and I can say it is a good balance of fuel economy, power, and luxury. When I bought my Prius, I was all into the cool hybrid and fuel economy but did not account for my tastes for luxury. Weigh it out folks and don't make the mistake I made.

Most people's daily commutes are not that far, but they still like to have the option that when they travel far for a trip, there's no worry about not making it to the next station. That's why in America, people still have "range anxiety" with electric cars - and with the size of US lands, stations can be far between.

Most people do not travel that far with their cars, so the full electric range seems about right. This is a nice upgrade for regular Prius users that want to go more electric. The Prius in Japan always had the switch to go into all electric mode, whereas the USA model you needed to add the switch.

The problem with EVs has been the lithium battery technology (Nissan Leaf etc).

The tablet on the Prius Prime dash is very nice and futuristic.

42.4 miles is not enough. EV's are useless unless it can at least match Chevy Bolt's 383km or Tesla's 346km. Why is Toyota wasting their time and resources?

Hybrids have been a bit of a disaster for Toyota. Sales plunged in the US last year, and in Japan were buoyed by government incentives. Not a rosy outlook.

42.4 miles is not enough. more than enough for the daily commute to and from work/shopping cart for most people, when the battery runs out the gas engine kicks giving you another 300miles+. Prius is a budget minded PHV they could probably give it a similar range to the Tesla but then itd cost twice as much with the extra batteries and be closer to an all EV. But I do agree Toyota should just bite the bullet like Nissan and make a budget all electric vehicle. Not like theyre short of spare cash.