I wonder how it will compare with the new Ford Fusion. Anyone has any stats on it yet?

What I would like to see, is for the Prius and other hybrid-electric vehicles to utilize lithium ion batteries instead of the less effective nickel metal hydride type.

Earlier, someone mentioned that this will have more power and less mileage.

Its nothing great, just a slighly modification of Prius-2009. Infact more inefficient in terms of mileage.

@WantElectricCarNow,

I don't know if a Prius to Fusion comparison would be the most fair, as the Fusion is more like the Camry than the Prius.

Along those lines, I am curious as to when we can expect an updated Camry hybrid. I haven't heard anything regarding a Camry redesign. The stats on the new Fusion are pretty impressive, and I'm sure Toyota will want to step up the Camry's performance accordingly.

Will this Prius finally make a profit? With all the hype, I'd actually like to see a sustainable business plan.

It seems that the new Prius III HEV gained in size and power not necessarily that much in fuel economy, unless it gets (optional) larger batteries to run (crawl) further on electricity only.

Being larger may put it very (too) close to the Camry HEV. Will Toyota drop Camrys HEV or try to match Fusion's performance by late 2009?

I overheard that Toyota is working on a simplified Echo HEV for the low end of the HEV market by 2010.

When will Panasonic/Toyota Lithium battery packs be ready for improved HEVs and PHEVs? At what point does an improved HEV (with more powerful batteries) becomes a limited e-range PHEV?

Except that the "Detroit Auto Show has announced it will not stage a physical presence this year. Instead all announcements and manufacturer displays will be virtual - disseminated through electronic media coverage and online distribution - thereby reducing costs by one third."

Should we then assume the 2010 Prius to be virtual as well?

Harvey, I believe that will be the Yaris. Currently the Honda Fit is slightly more expensive than the Yaris, and due to receive hybrid drive also. Honda's system is simpler than Toyota's, so I wonder if Honda will have a cost advantage with what is often considered the better car? The normal hybrid synergy drive nets IIRC roughly 60% improvement in city MPG and 10% HWY for Camry and Highlander, but if this is to be a simplified version to compete with the superior Fit in cost, will it have a significant advantage over the Fit in efficiency? I think in the small car segment the simple parallel hybrid may win out unless Toyota has made big strides, which is probable as well. Honda seems to have an advantage on the Insight vs. Prius as well, but time will tell.

Toyota almost sounds like they are hyping the 2010 Prius. From what we had heard earlier, it sounded like the old Prius with a slightly larger battery. There is a very soft high frequency whine when the battery is getting recharged. It would be nice if that noise went away.

I don't think that the batteries are robust enough at a reasonable price point (today) to expect to go very far or fast on a charge even for this new Prius.

wow, so much FUD and baseless comments being thrown around here, it's amazing.

Baseless??? How much does a hymotion battery pack cost? How far can you drive on it (keeping it under 35mpg or else it will kick out), how much does a Tesla cost???
These are not HVM price points for the 50% of the market.There is no uncertainty here.

Hi All,

I think they should have gone with a 3 cylinder 1.5 liter engine. But, that is not the Toyota way. Big ticket items are used across a few cars to get economies of scale.

The reason they went with the 1.5 originally, is they need 1.5 liter power for the size of car the Prius is, and the amount of power available from the battery, and that is what they had available from the Echo. Now that they have production volumes on the Prius, it seemed to me they should have developed the engine that would get the best fuel economy, specifically for the Prius, and had other cars use it (like the Yaris), instead of the other way around.

But, that is not what they did. They used the Corrolla/Matrix block on the new Prius. Probably because they plan significant production in the US for the Prius. And this is the block that has large production in the US - specifically in the Matrix.

joooookes:

I stand corrected. I meant the Yaris.

Yes, Honda will compete with Toyota with their new HEVs. That's good for us.

Toyota may have made a mistake by using a larger (1.8) ICE in the new Prius. Their smaller (1.3) + larger batteries could have done a decent job. I presume that they had to satisfy USA'S addiction for more size, speed and accelleration. Toyota's US Office is having too much influence on vehicles size and performance. They are pushing Toyota down the Big-3's alley. Too bad...

Based on the lack of information provided, I have to assume the new prius is not pluggable. If that is true, then it's a real opportunity missed to take the spotlight. Chevy has done a great job of convincing so many people that the Volt is already here, when to me it's still only a concept.

Giant:

Your assumption may be 100% correct. It seems that Panasonic-Toyota new lithium batteries will not be ready on time and they had to use the existing NiMH units (same size or larger or two batteries?) for the new Prius III HEV.

The Prius PHEV-40?, with in house high performance lithium batteries, may not be around before 2011/12.

There are rumors that Toyota is also working on a new superior battery technology for their future PHEVs and BEVs It may not be mass produced for another 4 or 5 years.

Does this mean that a Toyota PHEV-40+ could be delayed too? Meanwhile a few Prius PHEV-7 are being road tested with two NiMH batteries, similar to existing Prius units. Upgrading the battery pack, control system and software, at a latter date, should not be too difficult.

One thing seems to be certain, Toyota will not use an inmature technology nor untested battery pack in their HEVs or PHEVs. Whatever they use will last 10+ years and 150 000+ miles.

@ Max Reid:

No, what they meant before was that Toyota decided that instead of going all ecomony with the new Prius, they decided to sacrifice some of the potential economy for more performace. In other words, instead of possibly going above 80mpg+ from today's Prius's 45mpg (35mpg+ difference), which the 2010 prius had the potential to do so, they decided to cut some of the additional 35mpg+ for better performance, which means this new Prius, at worst, will have slightly better fuel economy compared the outgoing Prius. IMO, this is quite a smart move, since the current Prius is very lacking in performace and sportiness.

Expect the new Prius to have around 150-160 horses from today's 110, while retaining the same V8-like torque or gaining even more. Emmisions may get to as low as 89g/km from today's 104g/km, while getting around 55-60mpg. It's also interesting to note that a sneak peek of the new Prius shows that the new Prius can be driven in economy mode or power mode.

annon:

Would two Prius versions make sense. One with more power for increased performance and another with less powerful ICE (or a small diesel) for increased fuel economy.

We already have regular ICE vehicles with a choice of 4, 5, 6 or 8 cyls to suit customers specific needs.

Can anybody answer this:

How much approximately Toyota pays for that main motor-generator (MG2)for Prius?
Who makes it?

Thanks, MG

Now Toyota is no longer planning to manufacture the Prius in the US.