Prius Plug In Uk Price Released £27,895!

[wass]

I see that the french are getting into the hybrid market. I am guessing that the introduction of another hybrid manufacturer ( citroen /peugot) will add a bit of pressure to the current marketing regimes or possibly the french manufacturers will try to play the same game? Common sense would suggest that a new vehicle would need to be made as attractive as possible to buy in order to lure punters away from established hybrid players such as Toyota.

This could lead to some socks being pulled up.... you never know. ;)

[johalareewi]

This again confirms Toyota are ripping off the UK tax payer. Lets assume the original gross cost is £32k and a base Prius costs £21. Does it mean that the plug in hybrid battery side demands £11,000 premium?

As an example:

T4 Prius £23K

4KW Enginer PHEV kit (upto 20EV miles) with 5yr warranty around £3K

Bit of labour and import taxes say £2K

So a do it yourself T4 PHEV with 20EV miles for about £28K

Plug in Prius with 15EV miles for around £33K

Difference ???

[Grumpy Cabbie]

This again confirms Toyota are ripping off the UK tax payer. Lets assume the original gross cost is £32k and a base Prius costs £21. Does it mean that the plug in hybrid battery side demands £11,000 premium?

As an example:

T4 Prius £23K

4KW Enginer PHEV kit (upto 20EV miles) with 5yr warranty around £3K

Bit of labour and import taxes say £2K

So a do it yourself T4 PHEV with 20EV miles for about £28K

Plug in Prius with 15EV miles for around £33K

Difference ???

A big one. Comparing a limited edition diy kit against a factory fitted version isn't a solid argument in my mind. Let alone the fact that the PIP is not much more expensive in other markets against the non plug in versions.

Say the PIP spec is the same as the t4. So £33k minus £23k is £10k. The t4 already has a Battery in it worth £2k (but probably worth £1500 to Toyota) whereas the Battery in the PIP is just the one combined unit. Therefore the base cost of the t4 is £21k against the £33k for the pip. But lets go with the lower £10k difference just to make the sums easier. It's still a £10k difference for what is pretty much just a HV Battery and charger. Nissan have indicated that the battery in their Leaf has a replacement cost of £8,000 at the moment and it's about 5 times more powerful. Renault can sell the Fluence at about £8,000 less than the Leaf or £15,000 less than the cost of the full price of the PIP, because it doesn't include the HV battery. But that battery is worth £8,000 not £15,000 and it has a 100 mile range not 15.

Toyota offer a 15 mile range for £10,000 over the same spec mode Priusl without the plug in capability.

Anyway, it doesn't matter to me. I'm not buying one at that ridiculous money. Let's see how many they sell. I know they're selling like hotcakes in America but that's because they're only a couple grand more expensive than non plug in models BEFORE their Government incentives and then California offer additional incentives on top too. In the UK they just bumped the price up to sell less at the same profit. Great let them, but there are many more manufacturers about to release their EV and PI offerings in the next 18 months.

I like the Prius, I like my Toyota dealer but I feel there are now better alternatives out there. My choice.

[Hybrid Harbour]

All of you seem to be missing the point that Toyota (like every manufacturer) can charge whatever they like for a product.

You can not try and reverse engineer a price by comparing different trim levels or models or even adding 3rd party equipment.

For instance the Landcruiser V8 is priced from £63,910, that's £36,015 more expensive than the plug in Prius, the reason being is that that's what Toyota think they can sell it for, nothing to do with production costs.

The plug in Prius is set above the normal Prius in the range and so will always be more expensive, if you can't afford it, stop moaning about it....

[Grumpy Cabbie]

All of you seem to be missing the point that Toyota (like every manufacturer) can charge whatever they like for a product.

You can not try and reverse engineer a price by comparing different trim levels or models or even adding 3rd party equipment.

For instance the Landcruiser V8 is priced from £63,910, that's £36,015 more expensive than the plug in Prius, the reason being is that that's what Toyota think they can sell it for, nothing to do with production costs.

The plug in Prius is set above the normal Prius in the range and so will always be more expensive, if you can't afford it, stop moaning about it....

lol indeed you are correct. But it's not £5,000 of our money paying for it. But as you say we should now stop moaning about it. All points have been made and we've flogged the issue to death.

[don21]

How long I wonder before someone in the UK is doing this conversion?

[Grumpy Cabbie]

They already have or did. There was (or maybe still is) a company down near London offering conversions and even some cars they've already converted. There is also a chap who used to frequent these forums who did a nice explanatory thread on the US PriusChat forum about his importation of the kit and how he converted his car to have plug in capacity.

It isn't as easy as you'd all think. The Prius has to be bodged or fooled into thinking certain things to enable it to function with the plug in conversion. The HV batteries in the kit are also not as 'plug n play' ready as the existing Prius or the new PIP. They need checking, balancing, rechecking and checking again on a regular basis. I initially thought of converting my Prius as the kit would fit in the area above the spare wheel but below the main boot floor, but the quirky nature of the conversion means it's really for the committed diy-er with some electrical engineering experience rather than joe blogs.

Check out the following if you're interested;

http://www.enginer.us/

If you do wish to give it a go then be very aware of import duties, tax, shipping and 20% vat to be added to the total US price.

[don21]

Thanks GC.

I had a look at the site and a few of the youtube vids and I think I will stick to my bog standard Prius.

The guy who converted my Mazda 3 to LPG tells me the prius can easily be converted.

Working out the way the Prius operates I can see no issue with an LPG conversion but with the miles I do it is not really viable as I am already getting around 50mpg.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

Thanks GC.

I had a look at the site and a few of the youtube vids and I think I will stick to my bog standard Prius.

The guy who converted my Mazda 3 to LPG tells me the prius can easily be converted.

Working out the way the Prius operates I can see no issue with an LPG conversion but with the miles I do it is not really viable as I am already getting around 50mpg.

An lpg conversion now? Make your mind up lol. In that case try this;

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-prius-technical-discussion/82168-toyota-prius-2nd-gen-converted-lpg-hybrid.html

See, not a complete grumpy tw*t am I? lol I just don't like the overpriced PIP

[Teemu]

In Finland where government does not give anything for hybrid buyers the basic Prius starts at 34 600 euros and most expensive Prius Premium is 38 100 euros. Plug-in version is available just under 40 000 (about 900 less than Nissan Leaf) euros base model and Premium model for 47 000 euros. When comparing the prices without CO2 based tax system Prius is 29 830 euros plug-in 36 470 euros.

Toyota has 50 plug-in Prius allocated to Finland this year so the production levels must be very low which reflects higher price also, I believe.

Nice looking and interesting car, but too expensive for me. The new Yaris Hybrid is exatly what I have hoped for, though!

[Grumpy Cabbie]

Interesting its priced €900 less than the Leaf in Finland, yet here the PIP costs £1,905/€2,300 more.

Funny old world. But does that old rule apply where you can buy a RHD car anywhere in Europe for the price it's sold locally. Is it possible to buy the car in Finland, bring it to the UK and deduct the £5,000 then?

[hleb]

Thats to much . There is lot of competitors out in the market. Going will be tough for Prius

[RelaxedDrive]

Thats to much . There is lot of competitors out in the market. Going will be tough for Prius

Yes, definitely overpriced. I look forward to seeing how much it will cost for a 3 year old one when I next upgrade! It would be perfect for my commute to work and it has heated seats too! :-)

I just hope the stereo is a lot better than the Gen2 effort!

[Grumpy Cabbie]

It will be very interesting to see how it sells in the UK at this price. In the US it isn't overpriced compared to the traditional Prius and is selling like hotcakes. Funny that.

[kithmo]

Hot cakes are overpriced over here too, £3.00 for a muffin in Meadowhall

[Parts-King]

Hot cakes are overpriced over here too, £3.00 for a muffin in Meadowhall

Blame the Government, it's the VAT on hot food that has destroyed the muffin industry in this country

[Sagitar]

Hot cakes are overpriced over here too, £3.00 for a muffin in Meadowhall

Blame the Government, it's the VAT on hot food that has destroyed the muffin industry in this country

Would the OP have been talking about real muffins, or those horrible American things?

[Ancient Nerd]

Hot cakes are overpriced over here too, £3.00 for a muffin in Meadowhall

Blame the Government, it's the VAT on hot food that has destroyed the muffin industry in this country

Would the OP have been talking about real muffins, or those horrible American things?

I thought Muffin was a mule!

[Sagitar]

Hot cakes are overpriced over here too, £3.00 for a muffin in Meadowhall

Blame the Government, it's the VAT on hot food that has destroyed the muffin industry in this country

Would the OP have been talking about real muffins, or those horrible American things?

I thought Muffin was a mule!

Ah, now you are taking me back. That wonderful Annette Mills and how my kids loved her when they were small.

But we are rambling a long way off topic.

[Seamaster73]

There's some talk above of the French manufacturers providing a compelling alternative to the Japanese in the hybrid/EV sector. The Chinese are the ones to watch, I reckon. SAIC, one of the biggest motor manufacturers on earth (and the owners of MG in the UK) have a hybrid powertrain in one of their Roewe branded cars. If they can bring it to the UK, they could undercut all the others and cause genuine disruption in the marketplace.

[Madasafish]

There's some talk above of the French manufacturers providing a compelling alternative to the Japanese in the hybrid/EV sector. ...

Given French electronics - especially Renault - anyone who buys one with their own money would be seriously deluded in my view. Long term lifespan like a Renault diesel turbo - about 70k miles.

Bargepole job.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

Long term lifespan like a Renault diesel turbo - about 70k miles.

Bargepole job.

Considering the reliability of my Prius at 65,000 miles, I don't think Toyota are the same company they were 10 years ago.

I had a Peugeot that did have many quirky and bizarre electrical gremlins, but it was a damn sight cheaper to buy, cheaper to run and I got more for it with 90,000 miles on than I'm being offered for a Prius with 65,000!

I like the Prius design, I love the fuel economy, but it isn't the golden goose I thought it might have been and Toyota UK are almost as complacent as Citroen are. Thankfully my local Toyota dealers are great though.

[Hybrid Harbour]

I can't believe you have got this thread up to 4 pages, you deserve a medal....

[Seamaster73]

I had three Peugeot 406s in a row, and they were good as gold.

[Dacre]

There's some talk above of the French manufacturers providing a compelling alternative to the Japanese in the hybrid/EV sector. The Chinese are the ones to watch, I reckon. SAIC, one of the biggest motor manufacturers on earth (and the owners of MG in the UK) have a hybrid powertrain in one of their Roewe branded cars. If they can bring it to the UK, they could undercut all the others and cause genuine disruption in the marketplace.

I had a look at the Citroen DS5 on their Website and was well excited until I saw the warranty was only 3 years/60,000 miles. No chance of me buying one of those with that warranty - a great shame as it looks great