2010 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid Concept Full Details

After Japanese manufacturer Toyota announced at the beginning of the month that the plug-in hybrid version of its Prius will be attending the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show, yesterday the manufacturer released the full-specs of the Volt/Ampera rival, even if, so far, it is only an evolution of the third generation Prius, and not a PHEV per se.

As you can see, once a Prius, always a Prius, meaning nothing (apart for the color) has changed on the body of the car. On the under-inside however, the Prius brings a new powertrain, which Toyota hopes to transform into the next generation of its successful hybrid.

The plug-in hybrid pairs a 1.8l 97 bhp regular engine to a permanent magnet synchronous electric motor, developing 79 bhp. With the power sourced from a Lithium-ion battery, the plug-in hybrid has a top speed of 62 mph (100km/hour) in electric mode and, on a full charge, it can cover a distance of up to 12.5miles (20km). Not much, you might say, given that the current Prius is only six miles short of the same performance.

The six miles increase in range however will allow the Prius Plug-in Concept to output about 60g of CO2 every km. A feat with which the driver will be held up to date via the Electro Multi-Vision screen on the dashboard, which highlights the Prius' contribution to CO2 levels reduction.

The first batch of 500 of these not-quite a PHEV will be released by Toyota in early 2010, with some 150 to take to European streets. They will be used for evaluation purposes and will not guarantee a long-run production, as Toyota says.

autoevolution will be attending the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show, so stay tuned for some real up close and personal shots of the vehicles, as well as for first-hand details of the motorized contraptions.