Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid priced below Nissan LEAF, Chevrolet Volt in the US

By Tim Beissmann | September 19th, 2011

The 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid has been priced below its key competitors in the US, following its unveiling at the Frankfurt Motor Show last week.

The Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid has been listed at a Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of US$32,000, undercutting the all-electric Nissan LEAF (US$35,200) and the similar range-extending Chevrolet Volt (US$40,280).

At that price, the new Prius Plug-In is 36 per cent more expensive than the standard Prius hybrid in the US. If that conversion carries over to Australia when the Plug-In model arrives here (unconfirmed, but expected to be in 2013), it would be priced around $47,600 before on-road costs.

The MSRP prices for the US-spec vehicles do not take into account the federal tax credits available for plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs). Some buyers of the LEAF and the Volt are eligible for a rebate of up to US$7500, while the Prius Plug-In is only eligible for a US$2500 credit due to its smaller battery.

With the maximum tax credits factored in, the LEAF becomes the cheapest (US$27,700), followed by the Prius (US$29,500) and the Volt (US$32,780).

Both the Nissan LEAF and the Holden Volt (as the Chevy will be called here) will go on sale in Australia in 2012. So far, there are no government incentive schemes in place to encourage Australian motorists to purchase PEVs. Neither manufacturer has put a price tag on their cars yet, but potential customers should probably brace for prices in excess of the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, which starts at $48,800 before on-road costs.

Toyota Australia will be on a winner if it can launch the Prius Plug-In Hybrid for that $47,600 figure. Time will tell how close the final product comes to that mark.

The US-spec Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid will be well equipped. The base model comes standard with auto headlights, LED daytime running lights and taillights, 15-inch alloy wheels, climate control with remote air conditioning, satellite navigation and integrated Entune infotainment system, smart key with push-button start and nine airbags.

For an extra US$7525, the top-spec ‘Advanced’ model adds LED head lamps, fog lights, premium HDD navigation system, an enhanced Entune infotainment system, heated front seats, dynamic radar cruise control, auto-dimming rear-view mirror, pre-collision safety system, head-up display, and the Safety Connect emergency assistance system.

How much do you think the Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid should cost when it goes on sale in Australia? What would you be prepared to pay for the new technology? Le us know in the comments section below.

AndyGF

Manufacturers sell cars for what they can get for them…

Its got nothing, and always has had nothing to do with what it costs to make… Its just business, if the leaf did not have that $7500 rebate from the US government, it would be the same price as the prius?

I still think you can get many other good cars for much less of those hard earned dollars you earned. $50,000 AUD cars are never going to be environmentally friendly solutions for the masses. Its too expensive to save only a few grams of CO2 per 100km over much cheaper cars…

People who buy these kind of cars, and spend significant portion worth of their salaries paying them off, to save the planet are just fooling themselves.

Baddass

I agree. If you want to save the environment, buy a second-hand, light car (most people drive alone on the work commute anyway) and hire a 4WD or ute if you want to go off-road or need more space. Buying a new car for fifty grand to save a few litres of fuel doesn’t make sense to me.
Alexander

How is $50k car less environmentally friendly than a $20k one? Cost does not effect g/km of c02 in any way? If they’ll never be cars for the masses howcome Toyota’s sold over 2m of them? & they were Japan’s best selling car for quite some time?

If you earn an amount of money that allows for the purchase of a $50k car without going broke or spending a life time paying it off, then why not buy it? It’s like saying why buy a Merc over a Chery. I personally don’t spend a significant amount of my salary paying off my car, you’d be financially stupid to buy a car that’s repayments take up a significant portion of your salary? Not everyone buys them because they want hug a tree, I bought one because i would have had to spend ‘a significant portion’ of my salary buying a $100k car with equivalent levels of technology as a Prius does – the eco friendly side of it wasn’t part of my decision when buying it, although the low fuel costs were. Also I severely injured my left foot/ankle and can’t comfortably drive a manual for a long time in my traffic ridden commute and cars that match a Prius’ economy are all manual.

AndyGF

Actually Alex, COST does affect CO2… Because you have to drive to earn that capital to buy the car in the first place…

Quick Calculation; Current Cheapest Prius VS Polo 77TSI Petrol.

If you earn 100,000 a year (good job!), and have $50,000 of that as disposable income for a car (half your salary for a car, living it up a little I see!). You need to drive your prius for a whole 6 months to earn the cost of the car back. Which if you drive 20km per day average…

(G/km x Distance Travelled) x Days To Earn Itself. = CO2 it costs you in just driving alone to pay for your car.
$40,000 for the Prius, $20,000 for Polo, too easy…
Prius: (99 x 20) x 120 = 237.6 KG of CO2.
Polo: (140 x 20) x 60 = 168.8 KG of CO2.
Therefore Polo saved you 30% of CO2 footprint while you still busy paying for it.

If you earn a lot less, it gets worse, because the longer you take earn your money for your car, you have to factor in more CO2 your breathe out, meat you eat, electricity you use, the list goes on! This calculation ONLY takes into account CO2 out the exhaust pipe. And if you drive further than that per day, you will find a small diesel much more to you liking and will weigh even heavier in favour of the non-hybrid.

In the mean time I would have spend those extra 2.5 months of disposable income on something much greener, like a green house or solar panels or something like that.

Price kills the Prius Green imho, and its not like that polo was a in any way outclassed, its faster, better looking, has all the same comforts, drives much better and just as much space, and MOST IMPORTANTLY… MORE ‘MASSES’ CAN AFFORD A POLO vs double the price for a base model prius.

Alexander

On that logic, you are right, but I have never heard of someone driving there car more simply to recoup the money they spent on it? I drive 19km per day and don’t even think about driving more kilometres to recoup what I spent on it? I don’t even think about ‘saving the planet’ while driving. To me a Prius is an appliance, to commute in, i dont care about sportyness, handling, power etc when sitting in traffic, I just want comfort. Polo is a very, very good car, although in the sense it has the same comforts? it doesn’t have a heads up display, leather seats, solar fan for when it’s parked, a transmission as smooth in traffic as a CVT, precrash system, radar cruise, sat nav, LED headlights etc & if you think a Polo has the same space as a Prius, you VERY obviously haven’t been in one, a Prius has a Camry sized interior in all directions bar width.

AndyGF

You asked the question… “How is $50k car less environmentally friendly than a $20k one?”

Time IS money Alex, unless you have a trust fund, you have to pay for your car. Paying for it, will cost you time. The more time, the more CO2 you emit… Simple!

If you think your Prius is better, im glad you happy with your purchase, and you reserve that right.
QAZ

AndyGF, I dont get your logic. Doesnt matter you pay it off earlier or later, you still live the same life. You will probably get rid of them after 10 years too. are you saying bcos we need to pay for the car, we are being less environment friendly? I dont think so. Whatever life you have, it goes on.

Anyway, whatever suits you.
Image

I’d like to see someone cart family of 2 kids + paraphernalia in a Polo.
AndyGF

Let me ask you this then;
How much CO2 do you think Donald Trumps money cost the world?
(answer the question after considering how many billions of litres of fuel was spent driving/flying to his casino, powering his hynotic flashing lights, how many billions of those dollars were earned by sources of CO2, ect)

Every cent you make, every cent/dollar in existence has a CO2 value attached to it, because it had to be earned by the sweat of someones brow, their driving to work, eating food, buying products, taking the train, everything…

So how in your hypocritical little minds could you possibly think that spending large amounts of CO2 EXTRA (ie: more than you needed to), a significant portion in anyone’s mind, equates to you saving the planet and reducing your CO2? And if money is CO2, how much CO2/fuel/money/driving-distance do you have to save to actually make a difference?

Only Hypocrites think that the ONLY way they can save the planet, is buying something they can park in their driveway and show off to their neighbors…

(PS: I know a few people with 2 children (or more) who love their family VW Polo)
Phil

Hey Image, Go to Europe.

Not all familys have obese children you know.
Image

Hey Phil, I’m a small guy and fitting a medium sized pram, child seat, a change bag & weekly shopping is probably just a bit over what I can do in a Polo without having to stack excessively heavy things in the back seat. Having been in a rear ender, the amount of crap that flies forward is enough for me not to put many items unrestrained. Grandparents for sure would be making their own way there.
AndyGF

Let me ask you this then;
How much CO2 do you think Donald ‘Tr’-ump’s money cost the world?
(answer the question after considering how many billions of litres of fuel was spent driving/flying to his ‘establishment’, powering his hynotic flashing lights, how many billions of those dollars were earned by sources of CO2, ect)

Every cent you make, every cent/dollar in existence has a CO2 value attached to it, because it had to be earned by the sweat of someones brow, their driving to work, eating food, buying products, taking the train, everything…

So how in your hypocritical little minds could you possibly think that spending large amounts of CO2 EXTRA (ie: more than you needed to), a significant portion in anyone’s mind, equates to you saving the planet and reducing your CO2? And if money is CO2, how much CO2/fuel/money/driving-distance do you have to save to actually make a difference?

Only Hypocrites think that the ONLY way they can save the planet, is buying something they can park in their driveway and show off to their neighbors…

(PS: I know a few people with 2 children (or more) who love their family VW Polo)

(comment moderated to exclude some references – been waiting for moderation the whole day?)

Alexander

Andy GF, a vast majority of people who buy Prius’ that i’ve spoken to buy it for the technology and because it’s different. If you REALLY care about saving the planet (which to be honest i dont think the efforts of one person make any difference in the long run) you’d walk or travel by bike, simple. Sure i try to limit my environmental impacts (i bought solar panels, dont waste energy, water, i recycle etc) but seriously, not everyone buys a Prius to save the planet. People just like having new technology.

People

I will pay $25000 for the top of the range model with 60000kms on the clock.
whatthe..

How much to replace the battries?

Bargain Battery

Cost is around $100
Image

Were you planning to short circuit them? This is not your average toy car and real life usage have shown them to be good for well over 500,000km.

Also a Consumer Report Magazine in the US tested a 10 year old Prius with 206k miles and compared it to their test when it was new at 20 miles and was slower in the quarter mile by 0.1 second.

Phil

With just 21km as a electric range, this NEEDS to be a lot cheaper than its competitors who are offering 80-160kms range.
21kms of range is hardly worth the effort of plugging it in each time, let alone paying $15,000 extra (over normal prius) for it.

o

yes but the leaf is a pure ev, this is a range extender, same as the volt, you can drive it using the petrol engine ( to be specific the petrol engine powers the motor to the wheels)

mrxandthexfactor

If this Prius PHV comes to Australia, the price should be about $45000. Nice round figure below the competitors. This car better show that it is possible to achieve 2.5L/100km. I also reckon Toyota should bring the Kluger Hybrid and Auris (Corolla Hatch) hybrid.
RoFlmaTiC

The Volt’s business model just flew out the window! Doh!

Dave S

Not quite. The Volts case is when you want to leave the city and travel further. This Plug in Pruis is just a distraction.

Oh – 15″ alloy wheels: this is not 1985 anymore. Toyota, have to price it cheaper, because you would buy the Toyota or Nissan on looks over the Chevy Volt.

RoFlmaTiC

Well the sales figures speak for themselves – the Volt has only had 3200 or so in sales (in USA) since it launched last year – that’s half the sales of the hybrid camry in Australia where the car market is only 10% the size!

AndyGF

ROFLMAO…

Thats because their is a ’50,000 strong’ waiting list for the Volt, they cant make them fast enough.

Got nothing to do with popularity?

RoFlmaTiC

Oh so you’re saying the same company that managed to produce 6.5 million cars in couldn’t make more than 400 volts a month?

Looks like the volt’s problems are even deeper than I thought…

Either that or you’re making stuff up and this so called “50,000 strong” waiting list is fictional.

From one of the first articles that come up when you google Chevy Volt sales:

“The July sales numbers are out and the Chevy Volt continues to electrify (get it?) the country. GM sold … 125 Volts last month!

Way back in March I made fun of the Volt for selling 281 units in February. Turns out, February was a good month. But wait, there’s more! GM says they’re going to increase production to 5,000 Volts per month in order to keep up with demand. You see, they claim that the reason the Volt isn’t selling is that they can’t keep enough cars on the lot.

A GM spokeswoman recently claimed that they are “virtually sold out.” Which is virtually true. Mark Modica called around his local Chevy dealers and found plenty of Volts waiting for an environmentally conscious driver to bring them home. All told, GM has sold close to 2,700 Volts.

And the worst part? GM has been misleading about Volts being “sold out”:

Sales of the much-hyped Chevy Volt fell to new lows as did GM share price as July auto sales figures came in. Only 125 Volts were sold during the month of July.

Recent reports attributed the slump to supply constraints as GM spokeswoman, Michelle Bunker, was quoted as saying that the Volt was “virtually sold out” and only a “few” were available nationwide. I have confirmed that this statement is not entirely truthful and have gotten clarification from GM through Director of Communications, Greg Martin.”
AndyGF

GM’s word VS Toyotas word…

The prius is just a petrol engine with a giant brushless starter motor attached to it, that happens to be able to pull the car along on its own some of the time.

The volt is a true petro-electric car, and they are playing catch up and doing it better than toyota has been (& shoving green garbage down peoples throats) for the last 12 years all while not giving customers its true potential – PEV, which GM has just beaten em too it.

Its a whole new concept, one toyota has been ‘scared’ of too, gotta take their hats off to them for doing it. And all you can say is that their sales are a slow start?
Pffft!
AndyGF

You do the math; Take all the Greenies (including that vast majority of Hypocrites) in the world, minus the ones who wouldnt buy a toyota (IE: most of them) and would rather buy a Chevrolet.
And tell me that does not equal at least 50,000 people in the US alone?
RoFlmaTiC

Thanks for confirming it was fictional

My original point stands – this annoucement spells big trouble for the volt. They now have to directly compete with the Prius – the car that 12,000 or so buyers in the US purchase every month.

You do the math; take the 12,000 sales of the Prius in 1 month, minus the 3,200 sales of the volt in 8 months, and tell me that GM have nothing to fear from this new entrant which is priced 20% lower.
AndyGF

Fictional? I never said that…

I said it was Toyota Word vs GM Word?

You can choose who is more trustworthy after the recent recall debacles…

Only in your mind does everyone in the world want to drive a toyota. And so they sold 2 million priuses since 1997, its a drop in the ocean compared to the 1 BILLION* cars in rolling around world today.

Its obviously not as popular as you would so desperately love to believe?

* as per CA article.
RoFlmaTiC

I said you claim that there was a waiting list of 50,000 people for the Volt was fictional. You confirmed it when you provided you “detailed analysis” as to how you derived that figure.

Again you resort to strawman arguments (i.e. implying me a blind toyota supporter/changing the subject to recalls), I won’t be baited though. Toyota could have 12 million recalls next year; it won’t change the fact that GM have a big problem now that they have a direct competitor which already established credentials, selling a car that is almost equal (less full electric range, but much better fuel economy in petrol only mode), for 20% less.

Lars

Too expensive by far and the design does not impress me either.
Lazybones

It really shows that its not the cost of the batteries that are keeping EV prices high. This car is nearly 10k more than a normal prius but only offers an extra 2kwh of battery storage. Given the market value of Li Ion batteries is about $500 per kwh. This just goes to show they will charge what they think they can get away with until there is more competition.
Poor people

I live 12kms away from work…so i hardly need to fill up the car to work…um…i will consider it.