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Toyota to make plug-in Prius standard in 2014

By | May 9, 2011, 12:07 PM PDT

Japanese automaker Toyota is preparing to make plug-in technology standard on its popular Prius hybrid car beginning in 2014, according to a Nikkei business daily report.

Toyota will introduce the plug-in version of its Prius for the 2012 model year. The technology allows the driver to recharge the car from a conventional household electrical outlet.

The move is the next logical step after the Prius’ current drivetrain, which recharges the battery during braking. With plug-in technology, Toyota can allow the electrical drivetrain to handle more of the overall driving experience, moving away from the vehicle’s 1.8-liter, four-cylinder gasoline engine.

The 2012 Prius will be capable of traveling more than 140 miles per gallon (60 km/l) equivalent — far more than the already impressive 89 m.p.g. (38 km/l) equivalent it manages today.

(If those numbers sound far-fetched, it’s because those figures include the car’s 13-mile (at up to 62 mp.h.) all-electric range. Strictly speaking, the 80-horsepower engine itself achieves about 50 miles per gallon.)

The 2012 version will be priced about the same as the current model.

The hope is that these advances — along with a possible expansion of the Prius line into several models — will help speed adoption of electrified auto ownership. The company wants to average sales of one million units a year by 2015; in 2010, it sold 700,000 Prii.

The next step: building out a charging infrastructure to accommodate all these newly plugged-in cars.

[via Reuters]

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Andrew Nusca

About Andrew Nusca

Andrew Nusca is editor of SmartPlanet.

Andrew Nusca

Andrew Nusca

Editor

Andrew Nusca is editor of SmartPlanet and an associate editor for ZDNet. Previously, he worked at Money, Men's Vogue and Popular Mechanics magazines. He holds degrees from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and New York University. He based in New York but resides in Philadelphia.

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Andrew Nusca

Andrew Nusca
Andrew Nusca does not hold any investments in the companies he covers.
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Stupid Fast Prius Drivers
I'm always amused by the Prius drivers who cane their cars up the freeway @ 90mph, where the gas mileage sucks worse than a standard economical small car like a Focus or larger Turbo Diesel like a VW Passatt SW, due to the Petrol Engine having to haul the extra weight of the Electrical Running gear, and getting no benefit from it as the battery is empty.
Posted by neilpost
Updated - 9th May 2011
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re: Stupid Fast Prius Drivers
And, of course, you have the data to back these rude statements...
Posted by pcas9
10th May 2011
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Electric vehicle charging stations
Hello my name is Bill and my day job is Chairman of VQ Wind.

We are a startup company in our SERIES B raise, that can provide 22 charging stations in our VQ-RESTOP system at your retail store parking lot while you do your shopping. And all our electricity is created without nasty fossil or nuclear fuel ???.just the sun and the wind.

Kind of odd logic to buy an electric car and then charge it only with electricity generated by use of toxic fuels. There is a cleaner way through our hybrid solar /wind technology.

Each VQ-RESTOP, (patent pending) can provide ~0.4 MWhours of chargings (a savings of about 50,000 gallons of gasoline per year). That's a lot of clean green renewable energy electricity for charging your EV-Roadster.

If you think this intro is interesting please read the below or contact me direct or just comment here and we will explain more. BTW: The VQ-RESTOP economics are very respectable with short payout periods 2-8 years and attractive IRRs >15%.

Bill Prevost.
Chairman
VQ Wind
4417 Headen Way
Santa Clara, CA 95054
(510) 490-3108 Tel
(510) 543-3063 Mob

bprevost@vqwind.com
www.vqwind.com



VQ (Very Quiet) Wind is leading the small wind turbine technology revolution for applications ???Inside the fence??? in light industrial, agricultural, commercial, municipal, community, urban and residential use. The company especially seeks out applications where renewable energy is valued beyond merely saving the cost of replacing electricity generation cost.

These applications have as a primary market driver elimination of toxic fuel emissions and their accompanying harm to the environment and human risks, while still maintaining strict adherence to attractive project economic metrics.

One such multibillion dollar global emerging market (>$100B) is served by VQ Wind???s patent pending VQ-RESTOP??? which is specifically designed for creation of renewable energy from hybrid wind and solar technologies combined into a single structure to recharge electric vehicles in retail store parking lots while consumers shop in their retail stores. In so doing, the VQ-RESTOP??? mitigates toxic pollutants emitted into the atmosphere as is now being done in creation of electricity for electric vehicles from fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) and the inherent catastrophic danger of generating electricity from nuclear fuel resulting in such recent disasters as:
1. San Bruno, CA - PG&E Gas Explosion
2. Gulf of Mexico, - British Petroleum Oil Spill
3. And the ongoing crisis at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
The company???s state of the art Vertical Axis WindJet??? wind turbines are superior to traditional wind turbines for urban wind park applications in four environmentally friendly ways:
1. Low Noise
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4. And ?? Required Space.
VQ Wind delivers innovative, leading-edge designs, while maintaining a strong and passionate commitment to the delivery of renewable energy to our customers.

Let me know if you want to learn more through this blog or call me at 510 490 3108 or email me at bprevost@vqwind.com.

Warm regards,
Bill
Posted by William Prevost
19th May 2011
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