Prius - 2010 Model Next Month?

I am curious what will be in the 2010 Prius Model. Supposedly it will be out the end of next month. Lithium batteries may be (sounds like later)? Plug in from what I have read will be limited, not as suggested here.

This is worrying - Toyota's January-March Global Loss Beats GM - Motor Trend

Toyota Plug-in - A year early

Told ya! Toyota Plug-In Hybrid Coming Late This Year - New York Times

My previous post - Toyota and Volt - Watch what you wish for... My thought is GM was basically taunting Toyota with the Volt, so Toyota, being Toyota, just worked a little bit harder to get their plug in out first. And doing it in the usual, super careful way - ie quality will be A+.

Toyota delays Lithium Batteries in Prius

The new date seems to be 2010 for Lithium Batteries in the Prius, Toyota is concerned about the reliability. May be the Sony Battery fires put them off.

Toyota - What's Next

So so article from the Washington Post on Toyota. Toyota Hard Hit but Equipped to Steer Clear

What the article missed is the fall in US sales and the fact that it takes 5 years for a new car model to come out. I thought the US plan for Prius was going to start production in 2009, not 2010. My mistake, and it's a new plant which explains the lead time. I am not sure why they just don't change a truck plant to make Prius, with the flexible manufacturing of Toyota it should be easier. But a headache is the Prius components, and where these are going to be manufactured from the batteries to the IGBT's to the electric motors, these I would guess are all custom parts.

Toyota Hybrid Van - more info.

Toyota actually has two platforms for the minivans, one that is based on the Camry that is used for the Sienna that is sold in the US, and one called the Previa which is no longer sold in the US. The Previa was sold in the US until 1997 when it was replaced by the Sienna. The idea being American vehicle buyers like a larger, more powerful vehicle which the Sienna definitely is. The sad thing is the Previa has a hybrid version, and the Sienna does not yet. Rumours are from 2008 Fall to 2010 for a Sienna hybrid. My guess is battery capacity as Toyota changes over from Nickel Hydride to Lithium is impacting the date.

Toyota Hybrid Plans

Someday Toyota is going to release a Hybrid Van in the US. The only question is when. The ones they have been selling in Japan are smaller, than the current monster vans Toyota sells in the US. It's amazing how the Van Toyota sells in the US has grown from one based on their small truck, to one based on their medium car the Camry. The new Sienna redesign should come out in 2010 or 2011 model year, so we may see a Hybrid in 2009. My guess is the Prius will get refreshed with the latest technology, no other major changes for a year to make sure everything works, and then have new Hybrid models come out. I also expect Toyota will will wait one year after a model refresh to introduce a hybrid.

I was surprised that Toyota had some quality issues withe the first year of a new model. We bought a Toyota Corolla in 2004, and it had a couple of stupid design defects that were later fixed. One that annoys me especially, is the clock and be pushed into the panel. And my daughter after I told her tested it out, so I have a pushed in clock. And the clock does not work and the cost of a new module is $200, and since it's out of warranty Toyota refused to fix it. Annoying, and this is our third Corolla. Not to mention the damage this has done to me of Toyota's brand. It still did not stop us from buying a new Sienna (way over engineered and too many features), after carefully considering the alternatives.

Toyota between 2020 and 2030 will have Hybrid versions of every vehicle it manufactures. Toyota is also coming out with a plug-in version that will use Lithium Ion Batteries. Recently there have been reported shortages of Nimh batteries, which has caused shortages of the Prius.

Toyota also reportedly said after the introduction of the 2009 Prius in January, there will be no shortage of batteries. I am not sure if this means they are going to Lithium Ion, or they have built more Nimh factories. They are also going to produce the Prius in the US.