Felix, don't let the Engineers and Lawyers, from this
giant automaker, get the best of us who are impatient
with the foot dragging of these profit minded corporations.
I never had any warrany problems with my Toyota Tacoma
when it came to adding a 200 lb. shell and a 150 lb.
lumber rack. I put in an Air Lift system in the rear leaf springs
and this truck is now a 4cyclinder MPG task master.
The aftermarket manufacturers have yet to discover how big this new
PHEV market segment is going to be. After 5 years the Prius II will be depreciated
enough to make its purchase and a $10,000 Li-ion battery upconversion,
a viable option when deciding to go New or Used.
I will take the used PHEV that never needs to stop at the
pump while commuting around the local region.

This kind of statement doesn't surprise me at all. In our litigation-happy culture, Toyota is trying to cover all their bases. Because you know if one of these converted Priuses got into an accident and burst into flames, someone would blame the automaker.

I doubt this will slow down the retrofits very much, if at all.

One solution here is to empower a third party warranty on the conversions such that it will qualify for the incentives and cover Toyota's fears of liability. Such a third party may itself need government indemnification but will yield a faster moving PHEV market.

For sure the big manufacturers do not want to rush headlong into the BEV era. But the PHEV is going to arrive with or without incentives and the stampede to this new technology will astonish previous marketing of transportation systems.

The more conversions on the road the cheaper they become, growing the aftermarket with revenue, jobs and new businesses. Why not all good?

I have long suspected Toyota's management are of a split mind on hybrids. On the one hand, they aggressively shoved these cars into the US market ahead of all the other major players. But on the other, they ditched their RAV4 EV and (correct me if I'm wrong) didn't recycle that project's technology into the Prius project, but instead chose to use a true hybrid drive rather than just attach a gas generator to an electric-drive car, which would be so much less complicated to engineer.

Others will disagree, but my personal interpretation of this has been that the major automakers' headquarters, Toyota included, have been strongly influenced by the perception that, by making cars with architectures that are too simple, like those in EV's (or PHEV's being exclusively used as EV's) a major revenue stream from parts replacement and servicing could be cannibalized.

But to maintain that attitude even after GM has announced a truly electric-drive Volt would be particularly short-sighted. We'll see.

News flash there David, EVs aren't ZERO emissions...

Electricty isn't pollution free.

reality chech,

phoenix SUV retails for 45,000, not 70,000. Credits will reduce the price to the consumer. Yes, the cost is around 70,000 per vehicle, but will come down as production ramps up beyond these small initial orders.

There are also sub 30,000 electric cars that won't have as good a battery, but will be at least a bit more affordable.

Toyotas motive for objecting to tax induced conversions could also be that they know it will delay A123 from ramping up production of their automotive grade lithium batteries if they could prevent large scare conversions that will be done predominantly by A123’s Hymotion. Toyota does not want A123 to succeed because they are on track to become GMs battery maker for PHEVs and HEVs. Toyota could risk loosing its competitive edge on hybrids if A123 succeed to mass produce these batteries cheaply for GMs upcoming PHEVs.

Patrick is correct. Toyota simply wants to cover their a** in the event of a lawsuit. Can you blame them? You can second guess them all you want, and it may not be what some would do if they had a multimillion dollar company, but I don't see anything wrong with their HEV design. As for the great conspiracy: I just don't see it.

With all the electric Rav-4's out there, still proving the merit of
its battery design, this thumbs down, on next generation
Li-ion batteries, is going to play out badly. Toyota
will be left behind if it doesn't get behind this new
battery format. This may be the break that GM and its
shareholders are waiting for. It is ironic that Toyota
isn't leading the advent of this new technology. The
RAV-4 has been holding up so well, not only in resale but
in battery longevity.

It's good to se Toyota state what those idots in Congress should have known all along - you can't monkey
with a vehcicle and start stuffing it with batteries , like elad acid, which are deemed hazardous materials they won't even allow on a plane. I find it utterly incomprehensible that the same safety fanatics are allowing these aftermarket companies modify vehicles
to the extent of $14,000 worth of changes,and keeping their previously great big mouths shut. You's think that the fact that Toyota voids the warranty on these economic disasters would clue them in that something was amiss. These aftermarket companies are simply taking advantage of conscientious but very dimwitted
car owners - they can NEVER in a million years come close to saving on gas what they spend on the conversion, which won't last more than 5 years anyway.
Never has more money been spent to less effect.

Kent,
the idea is incentivize early adopters to demonstrate at their cost that PHEV technology is a reasonable change in transportation lifestyle. You've got to be conscientious, plug in at night limit driving if electing all EV, and not jackrabbit acceleration.

Like any new technology early adopters don't make the most practical choices. They enjoy being at the front of the wave and showing others new direction, by example. Congress, though assuredly more idiotic than yourself, is simply responding to advice to help jumpstart the idea. Apparently unpopular - there is something called positive reinforcement that rewards well-intentioned choices. Unless made by the wrong breed of people, in which case negativity is the program call.

Toyota's election to limit liability is a prudent business decision which should not halt aftermarket upgrades for those who really want them.

Eric H...You must have done the math with a bent slide rule or your calculator was discharged. My state produces equivalent electric power at 4% the carbon dioxide levels of a gas car. Hybrids & turbodiesels comparisons would still be in the single digits. Electric motor efficiency beats the exhaust valves, air cleaner, carburetors, fuel injectors, muffler, catalytic converter, & exhaust & connecting pipes off any Internal Combustion Engine(ICE)...because the electric motor don't need none of 'em. Central power generation is always better than individual mobile power generation. With renewable energy generation taking hold in the country, every state can have our numbers to shoot at.

Joe....Electric motors have zero emissions where the need is life or death...inside cities near kids that got lung disease from ICE emissions. Soon may ICE be dead & kids live. Long live electric motors that the planet may live too.