Prius plugged in and rolled out

Toyota is to unleash 600 plug-in Prius models onto world markets including Japan, the US and Europe.

The modified cars are to be used in a "demonstration program aimed at collecting driving data and spurring the development of battery-charging infrastructure"and will be provided to governments and businesses to assess their viability in everyday use.

The special plug-in, third-generation Prius is the first to use a lithium-ion battery and can be charged through a normal household power point.

Although the new car operates essentially the same as a regular Prius, the high-capacity lithium-ion battery allows it to run for longer periods on electric power alone.

According to Toyota, the plug-in Prius, on a fully-charged battery, will offer an electric-power cruising range of around 23km.

When battery power is depleted past a certain point, the Prius resumes normal hybrid operation, using "conventional" hybrid charging methods. This means it is not constrained by the availability of plug-in charging facilities.

On the other hand, the reworked Prius shares little with pure electric vehicles under development, including Mitsubishi’s i-MiEV  and Nissan’s Leaf – or even Toyota’s own tiny, smart-style electric-powered FT-EV ('Future Toyota Electric Vehicle').

Toyota says however that the plug-in Prius should achieve "fuel efficiency superior to conventional petrol-electric HVs, reduce consumption of fossil fuels, and reduce CO2 emissions and atmospheric pollution."

Toyota will place 600 plug-in Prius models into service in Japan, the US and Europe in the first half of 2010, with 230 going to government use in Japan and 150 to government agencies, corporations, universities and research agencies in the US.

Europe will get approximately 200 of the cars, provided on a leasing arrangement with Toyota. Around 100 of these will go to the city of Strasbourg in France.

Australia might get a look-in too, although the company says it is only under consideration along with Germany, the Netherlands, Canada and New Zealand at the moment. Toyota says the special Prius will be introduced in the UK and Portugal.

Toyota has been known to be a little tardy with the development of purely electric vehicles, presumably because of the efforts it has put into the Prius and other hybrid models across both Toyota and Lexus brands.

Australia recently took a first step into providing the infrastructure for all-electric vehicles with the announcement of $25 million in seed funding to the alternative energy organisation Better Place Australia. This will finance a "range of planning, engineering, demonstration and trial activities in the lead up to the first stage of deployment, which will commence in Canberra in 2011." http://www.carpoint.com.au/news/2009/charging-into-the-future-17571