I'm a Prius owner myself but I didn't exactly know how the plug-in was different. So I decided to do some investigation and here is what I discovered.
As you may know, a normal Prius is what's known as a 'hybrid' car. That is, in addition to standard engine, it has another way of moving the car forward: An electric motor. This motor runs off a NiMH battery. The battery is charged up from the energy generated during braking, and the car itself usually decides when to use the electric motor or the engine. The end result is that the Prius uses far less fuel than a similarly sized car because that electric motor is helping out.
The Plug-in Prius (See picture above) is a clever twist on all this. You'll be able to plug it in for as little as 90 minutes and charge up a separate pair of batteries which'll give you around 12.5 miles on the electric motor, with a maximum speed of 62 mph. Once they've run out, you're back to a normal hybrid. So you could be doing around 108 mpg! Another way to look at it is: If you have a relatively short commute, then you're effectively doing it in an electric vehicle with none of the associated problems of an EV (Like running out of charge, and long charge up times). Two cars in one!
The cost of a plug-in? Early estimates are around £22,000 in Britain after taking into account a £5000 grant from the UK government.
How are they charged? Standard mains power socket. It even gives you a countdown on how the charge is doing.
The only question I've got left is how many charges will the batteries manage before they give up and how much to replace? With a 12.5 mile range, you'll be charging the battery up far more often than a standard EV battery and that might mean it has a shorter lifetime by comparison. And these heavy duty batteries don't come cheap. Still, even if they do die on you and you can't afford to replace them, at least the car will still go.
More on plug-in here and here. My posts on Prius ownership here and here.
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