It's great to finally see the Prius available<br>here in the U.S. Like the Insight, this is a<br>big step forward for fuel efficiency.<br><br>As an EV1 (100% electric) driver, I have to take<br>offense at the Prius advertising though.<br>"...never needs to be plugged in. No recharging<br>stations. No plugs. No compromises."<br><br>I guess buying gasoline is not a compromise.<br><br>The truth is that a Prius with a plug (it has<br>been done before) would be a much better hybrid.<br><br>Not having a plug means you miss out on the<br>convenience of home recharging which is one of<br>the greatest advantages of the pure EV. It is<br>so much MORE convenient to spend 3 seconds each<br>night plugging in than to visit a gas station<br>even if you only have to visit the gas station<br>twice a month! Not to mention per mile the<br>electricity costs 1/3 as much as the gas for<br>Prius (@45mpg)... Then of course there are the<br>environmental benefits. Natural gas power plants<br>or better yet renewable sources pollute far less<br>than the refining, distribution and refueling<br>for gasoline... and that doesn't even account<br>for the tailpipe emissions which granted for<br>Prius are much less than most internal combustion<br>cars but still far more than most power plants.<br><br>Imagine a Prius where you could plug in every <br>night for pennies and the first 40 to 60 miles<br>of your driving would be ALL ELECTRIC before<br>the I.C. Engine kicks in. You'd still have the<br>freedom to take the car on long roadtrips and<br>you'd save time, money and the environment from<br>visiting the gas station dramatically less.<br><br>That's the kind of hybrid we need.

A Prius with external charging option will be great, but doesn't that imply a much bigger battery (with all the cost and weight that come with it)?<br><br>You said it had been done? Could you give some references? I'm very interested.

Greg,<br>on the contrary, we are not aware of any major automaker developing a grid connected HEV. Our advertising during this awareness building period will stress attributes of the hybrid system and address consumer concerns. While you are obviously a satisfied EV consumer, our research indicates that to a great many consumers charging in addition to fueling with gas would be redundant. Additionally from a technical standpoint there were be added component cost and weight, even if the charger were off-board. It would also likely require a larger battery pack which means more $ and compromises in vehicle packaging. We believe that with cars like Prius or the Insight consumers can gain the benefits of greater fuel economy and reduced emissions with no change of behavior. PM

Yes a bigger battery would be required to get<br>any real ZEV range from a PRIUS, but this has<br>been done. Ovonics (the inventors or NiMH<br>batteries) retrofitted a Japanese Prius and got<br>something like 10 or 15 pure ZEV miles out of it<br>(I forget exactly what)... Of course a true ZEV<br>hybrid would require a larger motor also (the<br>current PRIUS motor would be rather sluggish)<br><br>Battery cost is a chicken and egg problem, I'm<br>sure in 10 years a Prius replacement will not<br>cost $4800 anymore. With volume, EV batteries<br>have similar lifetime cost to gasoline (ie<br>battery+electricity = gasoline over a number<br>of years). <br><br>As for the charging+gassing nature of a true<br>ZEV range hybrid, anyone who says that plugging<br>in is a hassle obviously doesn't understand it.<br>If you could plug in a Prius, you'd probably<br>only visit the gas station 3 or 4 times a YEAR<br>(ie on long trips). Everyone who has experienced<br>the convenience of home recharging agrees it is much better than going to a gas station.<br>Surveys that show that people don't want to plug<br>in and fuel up are what we call "uninformed"<br>surveys.. Like the similar Toyota sponsored<br>Ken Train study, it's framing the questions in<br>a way that gives the results Toyota wants.

Priusman... you work for Toyota?<br>True, nobody is developing a grid connected hybrid, that's what bothers me.<br>Prius and Insight are great cars, but the public is being misled into thinking that they are getting the environmental benefits of an true EV and it's not even close.. these are great gas cars but they are still just that... gas cars.<br>I can be reached at greg@... if you want<br>to take this offline.

I agree that home recharging is more convenient than trips to the gas station. But I'm not sure about the market viability of such hybrid cars. Imagine a Prius with bigger battery and motor. It's not going to be a $20K family car given today's technology. Something has to give. By the time you overcome the technical and cost hurdles, fuel cell hybrids should have become mainstream; so why bother?<br><br>If you lay out the year by year marketing plan for that concept, you'll find that it's going to be a very small niche every step of the way.<br><br>I think Prius' mixture of technologies is right on in today's environment. It's just too bad they're holding back some trivial features for no good reasons.

Let me take on battery cost to start with. Having been the Program Mgr for both the Prius and RAV4 EV, there is a tremendous difference in battery costs. MSRP for a RAV pack is $22,000 which is subsidized several times over vs. the current $4800 for Prius. Lets not forget that the full sized deep charge EV batteries are only good for 3-5 years and 1,00-1,200 charging cycles before requiring replacement. <br>Regarding our research, we go thru great lengths to educate the respondants to that attributes and nuances of all these technologies in order to get data that actually has relevance.<br>For retail consumers it comes down to people not wanting to pay more to get less. Less in terms of convenience in range, recharge time and value.<br>All consumers expectations are based on their experiences with the internal combustion engine, a formidable competitor. Its cheap to build, getting cleaner ever day, runs on a variety of cheap and plentiful fuels and has a dedicated infratructure on every corner. Each of these new maturing technologies are measured against it. The battery EV can meet a small percentage of consumers expectations, but the range, re-charge and value issues preclude from being considered viable by the majority of consumers as a primary vehicle in their household fleet. The hybrid can meet and exceed many consumers expectations, but is still handicapped by a price premium and packaging issues. Fuel Cell technology shows great promises but development issues such as quick starting, cold weather operation, cost, packaging and infrastructure need to be overcome before they are viable. While you will see every automaker with FC demo programs in the next several years, it really won't be before the end of the decade before they are really commercially viable.<br>In part, thats why we at Toyota believe that HEV technology is a better near term solution than battery EVs. Air quality issues can be impacted quicker with greater volume without any perceived inconvenience by consumers. PM

Priusman,<br>As a driver of the Toyota RAV4 EV, I also have an interest in the Toyota E-Com. Do you have anything to do with that EV? I will be looking into the Prius as soon as the cruise control is available. The RAV4 EV doesn't have it either and I miss it!