New Prius arrives with old battery tech

Toyota has defended its move to launch its fourth-generation Prius in Australia powered exclusively by a nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) battery pack – not the more advanced lithium-ion (Li-ion) cells available in the new model overseas.

In the US, the NiMH battery is found only in the entry-level Prius, with all other models incorporating a Li-ion battery.

The new NiMH battery in the Mk4 Prius is 10 per cent smaller, more energy dense, charges 28 per cent more quickly and is now positioned underneath the back seat, liberating more cargo space and helping the Mk4 Prius to achieve the lowest fuel consumption of any non-plug-in new vehicle currently available, at 3.4L/100km.

Toyota Australia executive director of sales and marketing Tony Cramb said the company chose not to introduce the Li-ion technology here because it is more expensive and remains untested here.

"There are other markets that have the lithium, but we've decided to stay with the nickel-metal hydride because it's tried and tested, and as you see it's a reduced size, it fits underneath the back seat, so it gives us all the benefits...

"It's proven and tested – we've had no issues with it – so for this model we've decided to stay with it."

Asked if the NiMH battery version was cheaper and allowed Toyota Australia to contain new Prius pricing to $34,990 at base level ($2500 more than before), Cramb said:

"That's true. The battery price has come down and obviously with the advances in battery technology – you see the investments that other companies are making into battery technology – more and more it's going to get cheaper.

"One day lithium will be the future but for the time being nickel-metal hydride is the most appropriate technology for Australia."

Toyota is developing a replacement for the outgoing Prius Plug-In Hybrid, which employed a Li-ion battery but was never sold here, but the company's Australian arm is not yet prepared to sell the plug-in version here.

"We don't discuss future models," said Toyota Australia product planning manager Michael Elias.

"But it's still early days for [plug-in vehicle] demand in Australia. We never say never, but the market isn't quite ready for that."