2010 Toyota Prius
Posted by ajones | Posted in Car Reviews | Posted on 02-12-2009
Tags: 2010 toyota prius, best hybrid cars, rene isip toyota of lewisville, toyota 2010 cars, toyota dallas dealership, toyota hybrid, toyota of lewisville, toyota prius
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2010 Prius Plug-in Hybrid Makes North American Debut at Los Angeles Auto Show
The 2010 Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid vehicle (PHV) will make its North American debut today at the Los Angeles Auto Show.
Built specifically to support a global demonstration program that begins this month, the Prius PHV is based on the third-generation Prius. The vehicle expands Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive technology with the introduction of a first generation lithium-ion battery that enables all-electric operation at higher speeds and longer distances than the conventional Prius hybrid. When fully charged, the vehicle is targeted to achieve a maximum electric-only range of approximately 13 miles and will be capable of achieving highway speeds up to 60 mph in electric-only mode. For longer distances, the Prius PHV reverts to “hybrid mode” and operates like a regular Prius. This ability to utilize all-electric power for short trips or hybrid power for longer drives alleviates the issue of limited cruising range encountered with pure electric vehicles.
Beginning later this month, a total of 350 vehicles will begin delivery in Japan and Europe in support of model programs with business and government partners aimed at raising societal awareness of, and preparedness for, this important new technology.
“We are taking pre-orders for this third generation 2010 Prius hybrid car. This car has been listed as one of the best cars of the decade from 2000 – 2010. This car is equipped with one of the best hybrid technology that continues to surpass other vehicles in it’s class.” says general manager, Steve Dewitt, of Rene Isip’s Toyota of Lewisville.
Beginning early next year, 150 vehicles will start arriving in the U.S., where they will be placed in regional clusters with select partners for market/consumer analysis and technical demonstration.
It’s All About The Battery
The battery powering the Prius PHV is the first lithium-ion drive-battery developed by Toyota and its joint venture battery production company, Panasonic Electric Vehicle Energy (PEVE). In early November, PEVE began producing the first of more than 500 lithium batteries on a dedicated assembly line at its Teiho production facility in Japan.
PEVE is the world’s leading producer of nickel-metal hydride batteries for automotive drive applications, having surpassed two million units in total production volume. Nickel-metal batteries are ideal for mass producing affordable conventional hybrid vehicles due to their low cost, excellent quality, high reliability and moderate-demand charge-sustaining operation. Lithium-ion batteries, on the other hand, are more promising for pure electric and plug-in hybrid applications which require higher energy density to meet the higher demands of charge-depleting operation (large swings in charge/discharge). And, although lithium-ion batteries are less expensive in terms of materials, they are more expensive than nickel-metal in terms of production costs.
This first-generation lithium battery has undergone more than three years of coordinated field testing in Japan, North America and Europe in a wide variety of climatic environments and driving conditions. Using approximately 150 conventional hybrids (mostly Prius), the field test vehicles logged well over a million combined miles. In the end, the battery was deemed both reliable and durable, confirming that it could indeed be used in conventional hybrid applications in the future, depending on further developments in cost reduction.
The battery will now be placed into service in the 500 Prius PHVs dedicated to Toyota’s global demonstration program which begins in December. Operating in a more severe charge-depleting mode, the battery’s overall performance in a broad range of vehicle-use applications will be confirmed.
Toyota of Lewisville is an automotive dealership that proudly serves the greater Dallas Fort Worth area including Addison, Allen, Arlington, Carrollton, Colleyville, Coppell, Frisco, Garland, Grand Prairie, Grapevine, Irving, McKinney, Mesquite, Richardson and Southlake.
For more information on how you can pre-order the 2010 Toyota Prius Hybrid, please click here www.toyotaoflewisville.com.
Source: http://pressroom.toyota.com
