Will the Toyota Prius plug-in cost much the same as a normal Prius?

The Toyota Prius plug-in has been priced at 36 per cent more than a regular Prius in the US. Which means it could cost not much more than a regular Prius in the UK.

Toyota has managed to corner the market in hybrid cars over the last decade after its remarkably prescient decision to focus on ‘Eco’ cars long before the mainstream cottoned on to the changing mood of governments – and car buyers – to the impact cars have on wallets and the environment.

We won’t drag out our usual objections to the ceaseless quest for pointless ever-lower CO2 emissions, but we will instead commend the Prius for being a remarkable transport appliance, one which – if driven in a certain manner – can produce remarkable feats of economy and emit pleasingly low levels of the stuff that does real harm – NOx and Particulates.

But Toyota has fallen a bit behind the latest fad for plug-in cars, which means its buyers can’t take advantage of the pot of subsidy the UK government is proffering to bribe car buyers in to a love affair with the EV. But that’s going to change in Spring 2012 when the plug-in Prius hits the market in the UK.

Interestingly, the plug-in Prius isn’t a pure EV, but is potentially the best of the current crop of eco-solutions, offering as it does the hybrid Atkinson lump and a bank of batteries good for up to 15 miles on electric power after a charge of three hours or so. And it will recharge those batteries on the go if there’s enough spare energy to do so.

But the key to what should be an attractive headline price in the UK is the subsidy for eco-cars daftly offered by the taxpayer. Under those rules, cars which emit less than 75 g/km get the grant, so the plug-in Prius – with its 59g/km CO2 and 108mpg – manages to come well inside the minimum eco-criteria.

And now we have the first prices for the Prius from the US we can start to guess where the plug-in Prius will sit in the UK. In the US, the plug-in Prius has been priced at 36 per cent more than a regular Prius. That means, if Toyota do the same in the UK, the plug-in Prius will start at around £2.5k more than its non plug-in sibling – and a chunk less than any of the daft pure EVs like the LEAF and iOn.

Which will, if the price structure travels to the UK, see serious dents finally being put in the government’s EV bribe fund.