I was intrigued to see Toyota’s US unit cut the price of its two-version Prius Plug-In model line this week by between by $2,010 to $4,690.
Toyota’s announcement was followed very quickly by comment from Kelly Blue Book who said “Even at $30,000 or below, manufacturers will find it difficult to attract buyers, especially with gas prices trending downward and gas-powered vehicles becoming more fuel-efficient than ever before.” They pointed out you can get 40mpg highway from a $20,000 Corolla. This is a gripe I’ve heard this side of the pond from regular Prius owners in my street. They paid a premium for the high tech car but get only get the overall mileage you can get from a turbodiesel or one of the latest high-tech, low CO2 petrol models now on offer.
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I have just spent a week in the European-spec Prius Plug-In which routinely claimed to be returning 89mpg but I nearly suffered heart failure when I saw the UK price – GBP33,245 on the road ($53,019) though that reduces to GBP28,245 ($45,046) after a GBP5,000 rebate for electric cars is applied. Way higher than the old, let alone new, US sticker. Nonetheless, if petrol prices spike again, and you do the sort of running I do – three mile round trips with the occasional 42 miles – you can run it almost all the time on cheaper ‘lecky and, eventually, get some sort of payback if you keep cars as long as I do, which is until something expensive suffers terminal failure or the doors fall off. But many UK buyers turn in their cars after just three years and the numbers for the Prius with the extension lead just don’t add up. Like all the current crop of EVs, the car is a technical masterpiece – the challenge for Toyota and its rivals is to get the price down so the extra investment in plug-in at least pays back the owner over the average period of ownership.
Away from my EV/hybrid obsession, we’ve published a couple of interviews this week worth a look – with the head of Peugeot UK, and the chief of SEAT.
There’s a lot of new technology around too and we had news this week of wi-fi for Lexus and all sorts of clever trickery destined for that brand, future Toyotas, Minis and Fords. Click on the underlined links in the Ford bit and you can see the videos of the new tech in action. I particularly like the remote parking option – there are some car park slots hereabouts that appear to have been painted around 1960s era C segment models.
As part of a trip to a supplier conference in Swede, we’ve caught up with the revived Saab’s latest plans – or as much as they were prepared to reveal – and Our Man in Brazil brought us up to date on the new factories planned for that country.
Have a nice weekend.
Graeme Roberts, Deputy Editor, just-auto.com
