To create space for the battery, the floor of the luggage compartment is about 40cm higher than that of the third-generation Prius. Toyota Motor Corp announced the "Prius Plug-in Hybrid," which can be charged by using electric power outlets at home.

The plug-in hybrid vehicle is based on the third-generation Prius, which was released in May 2009. Toyota replaced the nickel-metal hydride batteries of the Prius with lithium-ion batteries, which have a higher energy density. In addition, the company expanded the battery capacity and the SOC (state of charge), which is the used part of the battery, increasing the distance capable of being traveled by about 10 times (23.4km) under the JC08 test mode.

The company supplies about 600 units of the Prius Plug-in Hybrid to corporate businesses, public offices, etc in Japan, the US and Europe from Dec 14, 2009, to the first half of 2010.

The mileage of the vehicle is 57.0km/L based on a new standard that takes account of both EV and HEV runnings. When the remaining battery level falls below a certain level, EV running is switched to HEV running with a mileage of 30.6km/L.

The charging time is about 100 minutes with 200V power supply and about 180 minutes with 100V power supply. The maximum speed in EV running is 100km/h. The specifications of the motor is the same as those of the third-generation Prius.