Toyota NJ residents might see a prototype Prius on the roads soon

The plug-in has docked stateside and a few lucky organizations and corporations will

be test driving it for the next 18 months and providing feedback for the rest of us. So by the time the plug-in reaches the showroom floor any kinks missed during initial testing should be worked out and performance may even be improved.

Three of 150 cars being tested in the United States were presented to the Silicon Valley Leadership Group in San Jose, California recently and more will be arriving soon for universities and other organizations around the country.

Toyota NJ customers can look forward to driving their own plug-in by 2012. In the meantime they can follow the adventures of the 150 test cars and perhaps even see improvements made during this trial run.

Buyers of used cars, NJ drivers, and other consumers may want to do as one test driver plans to do: sell his current car, a Volvo, while he drives the loaner test car and then buy a plug-in Prius as soon as it hits the market. Of course, most of us should wait a few months to sell out current car or we'll just be hoofing it for 18 months.

The plug-in uses a lithium-ion battery pack which, with a full charge, can drive electric only for 13 miles. Then the gasoline engine kicks in. Charging stations are being supplied for those test driving the Prius, in this case by Coulomb Technologies, who received a $15 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for the purpose of putting up charging stations in nine metro areas around the country. Toyota NJ buyers will likely have some close enough to use.

Although Toyota has flirted with the electric idea, making an electric Rav4 for several years, that technology had not been at the forefront until recently. Not it seems every automaker must have an electric model on the market and the race, albeit a rather short and slow one if it's running on battery only, is on! General Motors has the Chevy Volt, Nissan has the Leaf and Toyota has even partnered with Tesla Motors to create an electric car in the near future.

So the plug-in Prius will eventually take its place among the other electrics, perhaps having been improved during the 18-month testing to the point that it can out-distance all the competition. Dealers of used cars, NJ retailers, and consumers will closely follow any postings on the experiences of the test drivers. Toyota may even have the information from the test cars online for dealers and Prius fans to follow, although a specific venue has not been named. So start planning your route to work past potential charging stations or you could just build your own and charge everyone else to use them.

Toyota NJ residents might see a prototype Prius on the roads soon

By: Max Cosner

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