i live in Texas, US.....will there be any incentive like Tax incentive or some thing else for the upcoming plugin prius to bring down the price ? any idea
The plug in Prius will not be released until around June 2012, so incentives for 2011 don't matter. When it is released, yes, it will be eligible for incentives like the Volt, but not as mush as the Volt. I think the Volt is something like $7500 since it has a much bigger EV battery. The Prius will probably be something like $3000. That's a guess.
It should qualify for $2,917 to be exact if the retail version has the same battery capacity as the prototype.
prius phev coming in june 2012 is too far. as of now, is there any company there that can do the conversion in DFW area? does converting current brand new prius to plugin zeros its warranty? also , other than prius, leaf and volt, any idea which other companies are working on super efficient and reasonable priced hybrid/electric cars?
Yes it will void your Toyota warranty on the drive train and likely suspension. The conversions give their own warranties but I don't know if those are worth as much as a factory warranty. That and the future cars will prevent me from converting. Ford will be selling its BEV focus next year, but you may need to drive down to austin to get a test drive. It will have a PHEV focus in 2012. Hyundai will also have BEV and PHEVs soon.
It is not clear to me why you would buy a charging station in 2011 for a car that won't be released until mid 2012 but they start at $700 and there is a Federal Tax Credit. Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Products
I haven't seen that it is a definitive "yes" that your drive train warranty is voided. Once again, it would have to be proven that the modification was the cause of the failure. Now, maybe there are cases I haven't heard about, and maybe Toyota tried to void the warranty just because a kit was installed, but I don't know if it would hold up in court. And I've never heard of possibly voiding any warranty on the suspension. What difference does it make if you're hauling 200 lbs of batteries or 200 lbs of sugar in the trunk for years, as long as you don't go over the GVWR there is no voiding of the warranty. And if you do go over the GVWR, you can do that with or without batteries in the trunk.
