Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid – details

The Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid will debut at Frankfurt before being leased out in 2010.

With the Frankfurt Motor Show getting ever closer, car makers are revealing more detail on the cars they’re bringing to the show, and this morning we have more information the the plug-in version of the Toyota Prius.

The principle difference between the standard Prius and this new plug-in version is – you’ll never guess – that it adds the ability to charge the Prius’ batteries through a domestic outlet. The Prius can be fully recharged in around 1.5 hours, and the new lithium-ion battery pack – which replaces the old nickel-metal hydride pack in the regular Prius – is more compact and of higher output.

Toyota claim that the plug-in Prius can cover round 12.5 miles on a full charge in pure ‘Electric Mode’, which is around double that of the normal Prius. Once the batteries are discharged the engine kicks in and the plug-in reverts to working like a normal Prius. Toyota say that the new plug-in will return emission figures of around 60g/km CO2, a big drop on the regular Prius.

Toyota plans on having 500 Prius Plug-in Hybrids out on lease in the New Year to evaluate their function in the real world. The wrinkles should be ironed out to allow full production to follow.

Cant’ wait.

Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid Technical Specifications.

ENGINE
Displacement (cc)		1,798
Max. power (bhp @ rpm)		97 @ 4,000
Max. torque (Nm @ rpm)		142 @ 4,000
MOTOR
Type		Permanent magnet synchronous motor
Max. output (bhp)		79
Max. torque (Nm)		207
HV BATTERY
Type		Lithium-ion
EV cruising range (miles)		12.5
Recharging time (min)	100V	180 (target)
	200V	100 (target)
EMISSIONS
CO2 (g/km)		<60
EXTERIOR DIMENSIONS
Overall length (mm)		4,460
Overall width (mm)		1,745
Overall height (mm)		1,490