Just how new is Toyota's plug-in Prius? Maybe older than we think
This Friday, Toyota will deliver two plug-in Priuses to UC Davis for testing purposes. We've known about Toyota's PHEV Prius plan for a while now (the official announcement came back in July), but one of our clever readers, Joseph, submitted a tip that explains that perhaps the plug-in Prius has been in the works for six months, maybe even a year, before the July public acknowledgment. I'll let him explain:The PHEV Prius prototypes from Toyota were revealed on July 25, 2007. In the video shown, at 1:07, you will see a Toyota E-COM, which was an EV designed for car-sharing/city. Toyota made about ~50 of them or so. They had a few of the E-COMs hanging around until 2006, when they ended the E-COM program. Here are a few pics of the E-COM (1, 2)
So, if the E-COM program ended in 2006 and the PHEV Prius is in a video with it beside it on the road, that must mean that the Prius PHEV prototypes must've been at LEAST 6 months old when they were displayed on July.
I know that there was already speculation beforehand that Toyota was developing PHEV prototypes, but this confirms it more.
Here is the website saying when the car program ended.
I'm not sure that just because the E-COMs are in a video with a PHEV Prius proves anything. When Toyota ended the E-COM program, they didn't destroy the cars, did they? If they mothballed them, then Joseph is onto something. Whatever the case, I've asked Toyota if they'd like to comment on this. For me, though, the excitement is in the future of the plug-in Prius program more than in its history.
[Source: EV World, Toyota, tipster Joseph]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tony Belding 7:51PM (11/07/2007)
This is a surprise?
I'm not sure when the first test cars hit pavement, but Toyota publicly, officially announced in July 2006 that they intended to make a PHEV.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0720/p02s01-ussc.html
If Toyota began working on a prototype about the time they made that announcement, or very shortly afterwards, then the timeline would appear to mesh pretty well.
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Irv Miller 8:57PM (11/07/2007)
Not sure what "Joseph" is viewing but I can tell you there was NO E-com in that video tha tBill Moore obtained while in Japan for the Tokyo Motor Show. We have been working on a PHEV for a long time. Not to stir the pot even more but batteries are the weak link.
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Joseph 10:28PM (11/07/2007)
Thanks for putting this up.
It's a good point you made that the E-COMs weren't necessarily destroyed just because the program for them ended.
I don't know what happened to the E-COMs. :(
I'll see if I can find out though.
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Conspriacy theory 4:51PM (11/08/2007)
http://tronweb.super-nova.co.jp/toyotadreamhousepapi.html
This was in 2005. I think PHEV-Prius has been on the burner for longer than this even. Toyota for whatever reason has been "PLUG-O-PHOBIC". Any mention of a plug and Prius together gave them a rash. It's nice to see the change in attitude. Thanks to the Chevy Volt I'd say.
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