Why is the Chevy Volt 40K and the toyota Prius 20K?

The Prius is much more expensive than $20K. MSRP on the Prius starts in the mid $20's K, but the average Prius is around $33K - $35K. The Volt is a plug-in hybrid, so it runs completely on the battery until the charge gets too low, then it switches over to the gas engine. The Prius is a standard hybrid, it runs on a combination of the electric motor and the gas engine. If you commute less than 40 miles a day, the Volt is the better choice. If your commute is longer, The Prius is what you want. Chevy has designed the Volt for commuters in large cities who will not travel farther than the range of the electric battery. People who fall into that category will spend little to nothing on gas as the electric motor will power the car completely. The Prius will use gas no matter how short the drive. @ Jeff, your post is completely false. First, don't expect to get true facts about the Prius from a "GM thing". Second, the door handles on a Prius, and most cars for that matter, are made of plastic. Plastic is not an electrical conductor. I have fixed many crashed Prius' and have yet to see any that have shocked someone to death. None of the statements you made have any truth to them.

people think theyre supporting the usa so theyll buy the volt thats probably made in mexico...

Mark, stop. I despise the Democrats and Obama as much as the next guy but he had NOTHING to do with the car. GM had plans for the car well before he was Pres-o-dent. To the person that asked the question. The Prius isn't $20K. MSRP starts at around $23K. That's for a no-option stripped model. The Volt is very loaded from the get-go. Also, the Prius doesn't out perform it. Get a decently optioned Prius and you're looking at around the same price after the Volt's tax break.

because .. that's why ... and the public will pay it .... supply and demand ... basic economics

- Both get about the same MPG for the same trip 300 miles or so. Good luck on that. The Volt will get 35 mpg and the Prius well over 50. Also the Volt uses premium while the Prius uses regular so you have to reduce the Volt's mpg to get a regular grade gas equivalent. The Prius' battery lasts practically forever too. There is no data on the Volt's battery. In addition, the Prius is a mid-sized car that seats four full-sized adults in comfort (including plenty of back seat legroom). From my Prius' logbook on the last trip I took: Date________ODO_____INC____MPG (l/100km) 08/13/10____111690____625____59.8 (3.9) 08/14/10____112308____618____60.0 (3.9) 08/20/10____112972____663____64.2 (3.7) 08/22/10____113411____438____58.9 (4.0) 08/31/10____113922____510____61.8 (4.0) Also there is absolutely no danger to rescue workers after an accident. That's just total BS. There are a number of safety devices to prevent things like that from occurring and it's never occurred. There is not even any electrical path to the door handles and the HV circuits are totally shielded not to mention that if the airbags have gone off the HV circuits are cut. I think the difference is that the Prius was designed by real engineers while the Volt was designed by hybrid hating Lutz as a way to prove that hybrids weren't viable and wouldn't sell. IMHO, there are some real problems with the Volt: 1. If you don't go more than 40 miles, what happens to the gas and the engine. Car engines don't really like to be idle for weeks on end and typically reward you by failing early. Gas has a finite life. A Nissan Leaf would be a better choice here. (It's also too expensive, but at least it's closer to the ballpark). 2. If you go further than forty miles mpg drops like a stone.

Economies of scale, mostly. This is a brand-new car for Chevrolet, and they're probably losing money on each and every one of them, because - well, it's a brand-new car, and it's crammed full of new technology. Which is why they designed it to do something the Prius doesn't, which is to run as a full-electric for more than a few minutes: they're hoping people would pay for this distinction. Toyota, meanwhile, is in the third generation of Prius, and has built around a million of them; they've gotten it down to a science by now, and they're actually making money on them. The Volt, incidentally, seats only four.

Because the composition of the materials on the Chevy was more expensive, and also electric batteries cost a lot of money and i'm sure the Prius was made with a cheaper one

Tony, you have made my point perfectly. Equiped about the same before txes breaks there is a big differance in price, but not much in the cars. They should be about the same price equip the same before any tax breaks. Chevy is just hopeing everyone will miss or ignor that and buy it anyway. I am in the Market for one on these cars, but the price differance, out the door is huge for a very similar car. A 5 passenger, gas/electric 300 mile per trip car. the trip is important as 300 miles is normal distance for most any car. lets keep a level comparison. And yes the Prius has more getup and go, both from a stop and at passing speeds. Not much but noticalbe. also the prius not pulls the volt on long hills, have more power in reserve for passing the trucks etc. One person did say that maybe more/better safety with the volt in a crash or in water, but I have not researched that yet, but high voltage batteries are high voltage batteries, How do you answer back on this withour editing an old answer? Jean-Pau... Because the composition of the materials on the Chevy was more expensive...... The volt is an electric version of the cruise, what materials in a Chevy are more expensive than in the Toyota. , and also electric batteries cost a lot of money and I’m sure the Prius was made with a cheaper one. The battery/charging/regeneration systems are close to the same size/technology and Toyotas have a longer warrantee and so far I have never seen anything on a Chevy with better or higher or more costly anything than a Toyota. I do not believe this is a good or correct answer, it only supports the question "does Chevy really think we are that gullible?

The Volt uses lithium ion batteries, the Prius uses cheaper nickel-metal hydride batteries.