The Toyota motor corporation has launched their best ever plug-in hybrid car in the Japan market very recently.
This new discovery has the exclusive feature of interchangeable vehicle mode from gasoline to electric battery. By the mid-2010, 600 units will rule over the streets in Japan, US and Europe.
The “Prius Plug-in Hybrid” is a third generation model with plug-in feature introduced in hybrid car.
The manufacturers demand that this model has Lithium ion batteries with 5kWh capacity that can be fully charged within 100-180 minutes depending on the outlet’s voltage.
All the hardware needed for charging come with the car. Simply by using the electric mode one can travel 14.3 miles and pick up a speed up to 62 mph.
For longer distances, the driving mode automatically changes from electric to hybrid mode that uses both gasoline and electric.
The fuel efficiency in hybrid mode is 30.6 km/L. The best part of this vehicle is that one can switch to “plug-in” mode, and get 57km/L fuel efficiency on average.
The verifications made to gauge Prius Hybrid plus’s performance in Japan reveal that the plug-in feature reduces environmental pollution, emit less CO2 and use less fossil fuel.
Prius plug-in comes in a light blue and mica metallic body and new type PHV screen, Eco-Drive. According to Toyota, despite the exclusive features the Prius Plug-in Hybrid will come in reasonable rate in the retail market by the late 2011.
Source : Toyota- Prius
