Toyota confirms UK retail price for Plug-in Prius

Toyota has confirmed that its new Plug-in Prius will go on sale with a price of under £31,000 (€35,300).

The Japanese automaker confirmed that the UK price for the vehicle, set to go on sale in the first half of 2012, may be as low as £26,000 (€29,600) when government incentives for electric vehicles are taken into account.

The Prius, which can travel for 14 miles (22 km) using only battery power before a hybrid system kicks in, will be eligible for the grant support, Toyota said September 21.

A sticker price of around £31,000 (€35, 385) puts the Plug-in Prius at roughly the same price as the Nissan Leaf, which starts at £30,990  in the UK and at a considerable premium to its all-electric counterpart the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, which starts at £28,990 (€32,020).

However - and perhaps most crucially - it's £3000 (€3,420) cheaper than the Vauxhall Ampera, which will start at £33,995 (€38,720) and is the Prius Plugin's main competitor.

Like the new Prius, the Ampera uses both electric and gasoline motors and therefore is capable of ranges far in excess of those standard electric vehicles can manage, although it too can manage short distances on all-electric power.

It is also set to hit the roads in 2012 with the backing of a powerful brand - and if the all-electric price wars between Nissan and Mitsubishi are anything to go by, it may not be long before General Motors-owned Opel/Vauxhall reconsiders its selling price for a car which is facing more competition almost by the day.