Toyota to halve hybrid price, size for next Prius

[jpak]

http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUST13140520071025

TOKYO (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp will slash the price and size of its hybrid system by around half for the next-generation Prius model, and use a nickel-metal hydride battery instead of lithium-ion, a top executive said.

"When we went from the first-generation Prius to the second-generation, we did the same thing," Executive Vice President Kazuo Okamoto, in charge of Toyota's research and development, told reporters in Tokyo.

Toyota, the world's biggest automaker, has not publicly disclosed a timeframe for the introduction of the third-generation Prius model. Some media reports have speculated the planned late-2008 launch would be delayed because of concerns over the safety of lithium-ion batteries.

"I can't tell you when it will come to market, but the preparations are making steady progress," Okamoto said. He added that the next Prius would "definitely" use improved nickel-hydride batteries rather than higher-energy lithium-ion.

"Lithium-ion is going to take some time," he said.

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[baldguy]

1. And GM only introduces hybrid SUVs & trucks.

[nebula]

3. Laughable

GM's hybrids barely manage 10-15% greater fuel efficiency over their standard gasoline models. And yet cost thousands more.

[Kolesar]

4. What the fuck is the purpose of your fucking lying about GM products?

19/26 Standard Vue
25/32 Hybrid Vue

That's way more than a 10-15% improvement in fuel economy

In fact, that's 32% / 23% improvement. Pick up a calculator like I did.

http://www.saturn.com/saturn/vehicles/vue08/overview.jsp

And your take in post 2 that Toyota is selling the Prius for half price is pretty darn lame, too. Read the original post. Toyota is not cutting the price in half. It's the price of the hybrid apparatus, not the whole car.

[nebula]

6. Compared to the price premium you pay for the VUE,

a 5-6 mpg improvement is still pretty miniscule compared to the Prius.

[Kolesar]

8. Right-wing union bashing run amok

[CRF450]

9. The prius is built from the ground up as strickly a hybrid

The VUE is not.

[Kolesar]

5. The hybrid Saturn Aura is a CAR

[baldguy]

10. And when was the last time you saw an ad for an Aura?

They have ads for hybrid 3000SUX on bottle caps.

[nebula]

2. Did I read that right?

price of the Prius slashed in half?

Sounds like great news for the consumer and all, but why would Toyota
want to do such a thing when they can barely keep up with the tremendous demand
of the Prius at the current full retail price? Even with the premium price, the Prius
is still flying off the lot.

Whatever the case, that is one hell of a price drop. Though I'm perplexed at the reasoning
behind it.

[skids]

11. No, just the price of the Synergy Drive, not the whole car. n/t

[razzleberry]

7. the special hybrid equipement will do less --> costs less

fewer batteries, smaller electric motor, less expensive

[skids]

12. Not exactly...

...lighter higher speed motors that are cheaper but perform just as well. They are gearing up the motors because gears are cheaper than motors.

More energy-dense NiMH batteries. The battery capacity might possibly go down but the power density (and total C) will go up.

The new system will likely get better mileage than the old one.