Li-ion has even less capacity than NiMH, the question is does it provide better fuel economy (charge/discharge losses) or longevity? I doubt it. I think it just has to do something with production capacities, with time they will go 100% li-ion because it will be cheaper.
For the "standard Prius" the Li-Ion is smaller in capacity and lighter in weight. Toyota will probably use the weight difference to off-set models that push their weight limits due to options. The capacity would probably have little effect (it's not an EV). I'm told Li-Ion charges more efficiently and perhaps discharges in a similar manner. This may be why it has a smaller capacity. Because it will still work just fine with a smaller capacity. Again, the "standard Prius" IS NOT an EV. EV operation is just a bonus. Expecting better EV range is out of reality for this model of Prius. Get a PIP if that's what you want. I concur that it is probably just because of production capacity and may also be related to "learning" how it will perform in the real world. I would expect to see the Li-Ion mostly where Toyota have development engineers to monitor it. If the Li-Ion performs well I would expect to see it supplant the the NiMH totally - eventually.
Reported curb weights for the trims in Japan. It appears the ECO used max weight saving there to be able to use a lower dymanometer resistance during the JC08 test. Based on those curb weights, it appears NiMH is limited to AWD equipped models.
What? Ken{some number} posted the curb weights for the trims available in Japan. From that list, it can be seen that only the AWD models had NiMH.
Up to now it looks like that as allways there are only 3 trim levels available for Germany and according to Toyota UK there will be no sun/moon roof option for Europe! What a stupid and absolutely no sense making decision by Toyota ! It will "scare" potential customers away to other car makers who do offer a sun roof and will make gen 3. owners with solar roof stick with the current model instead of upgrading to gen. 4 ! Sometimes I just don't get it ! The 3 Options in Germany are : Prius Prius Comfort Prius Executive
Wrong. According to ken1784 S model 2WD in Japan will have NiMH. According to Toyota UK all 4 trims are 2WD and according to the original post here they will have NiMH.
