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Old 09-20-2011, 04:13 PM   #2
AVANTI R5
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Default Banished from the H.O.V. Lane, Prius Drivers May Be First to Embrace New Plug-In Mode


http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2011...er=rss&emc=rss

Quote:
Toyota announced last week that its plug-in Prius, with 15 miles of all-electric range, will cost $32,780 when it goes on sale early next year, $8,500 more than the entry-level Prius Two, which costs $24,280.

While it’s worth noting that the plug-in car is eligible for a $2,500 federal income tax credit, paying thousands of dollars extra may be a burden happily shouldered by current Prius owners who lost their privileges in California’s high-occupancy-vehicle lanes in July, when the state rescinded their eligibility for single-occupancy driving in the lanes.

Purely electric cars and trucks are eligible, as are a handful of hydrogen fuel-cell and natural-gas vehicles. The Prius plug-in, classified by California as an Enhanced Advanced Technology Partial-Zero Emission Vehicle, or EAT-PZEV, also makes the cut.

In states following California’s emissions standards, the plug-in car’s lithium-ion battery pack carries a 10-year, 150,000-mile warranty. In other states, the battery warranty will be eight years and 100,000 miles. The longer-term warranty was necessary to earn the new Prius EAT-PZEV status and consequently give its drivers access to California’s H.O.V. lanes.
That warranty stipulation prevented the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, among the most fuel-efficient vehicles on any road, from earning EAT-PZEV emissions status; the Volt has an eight-year, 100,000-mile battery warranty.
But not for much longer.

General Motors pledged last year to offer a 10-year, 150,000-mile warranty for the 2012 Volt and seek EAT-PZEV emissions status.

Rob Peterson, a G.M. spokesman, said in a telephone interview Tuesday that 2012 Volts, with the longer battery warranty would be available in California in the second quarter of next year. He added that G.M. had “no lack of confidence in the battery,” but needed to add some emissions hardware to the 2012 model before it could meet the criteria laid out by California regulators. He said that the H.O.V.-compliant Volt should be on the road “around the same time” as the Prius plug-in.

California is already the country’s strongest market for alternative-powertrain cars, including the Prius. Sam Butto, a Toyota spokesman, said that California sales accounted for one out of every four in the United States.

“When those cars were eligible for California’s H.O.V. lanes, we sold out our allotment in no time,” Mr. Butto said. “We expect that the ability to use the H.O.V. lanes will be one of the most popular reasons people will buy the Prius Plug-In Hybrid. We may sell one in three or one in four of our plug-in hybrids in California.”

According to Scott Doggett, an editor at Edmunds’ AutoObserver.com, “When the H.O.V. access for California hybrids went away, it left thousands of drivers very frustrated, because their commute times had doubled or tripled. The ability to use H.O.V. lanes is a very good marketing tool for Toyota.”

Beginning in March, Toyota’s plug-in hybrid will be sold in just 14 states, followed by a full 50-state introduction in 2013. The initial markets are California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia.
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