Toyota Prius returns to plug-in market with US$3,000 price cut

[CHICAGO] Toyota Motor Corp said it's returning to the plug-in hybrid market in the US by lowering the price of a redesigned model to undercut the Chevrolet Volt by US$6,000.

Prices for Toyota's new plug-in, dubbed Prius Prime, will start at US$27,100. That's US$3,000 less than the version the company discontinued in June 2015, Bill Fay, head of US sales or the Toyota brand, told reporters at a Sept 23 briefing. Volt prices start at US$33,170, according to a General Motors Co website.

When it goes on sale later this year, the new Prius Prime will be able to travel 25 miles (40 kilometres) between each recharging in all-electric mode, which many environmentalists consider cleaner than the gasoline engine also installed in the car. That's about half the 53-mile capability for the Volt.

The discontinued version of the Toyota plug-in was able to travel only 11 miles after each recharging of its electric batteries. Toyota stopped building the old version about 15 months ago.

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