Toyota Australia has expanded its hybrid family once more with the addition of the new luxury-spec Toyota Prius V i-Tech.

Priced from $46,490, the new i-Tech variant adds a number of extra features to justify its $10,500 premium over the $35,990 entry-level Toyota Prius V seven-seater, which launched in Australia in May.

Toyota Prius V i-Tech: luxury variant for hybrid people-mover

The Toyota Prius V i-Tech scores dynamic radar cruise control, satellite navigation, auto-levelling LED headlights with washers, electro-chromatic rear-view mirror, heated front seats, and a panoramic roof with an electric sunshade that raises the Prius V's height by 25mm to 1615mm.

The luxury model also sees the addition of a head-up display that shows navigation prompts, an eight-speaker JBL sound system with digital radio, premium seat coverings and park assist.

The Toyota Prius V i-Tech is fitted with a pre-crash safety system, adding to the standard safety package that includes seven airbags, reversing camera, hill-start assist, stability and traction control, anti-lock brakes, brake assist and electronic brakeforce distribution.

The Prius V i-Tech, powered by Toyota's 100kW Hybrid Synergy Drive powertrain that combines a 1.8-litre Atkinson cycle petrol engine and a 60kW electric motor, delivers fuel economy of 4.4L/100km and CO2 emissions of 101g/km.

The Prius V and Prius C city car both joined the third-generation Toyota Prius hatch in the first half of this year, and have clocked up 594 and 1516 sales respectively to the end of October.

The arrival of the new high-grade Prius V comes as the Japanese manufacturer celebrates the local milestone of selling 10,000 hybrids in a calendar year for the first time (combined sales for Toyota and Lexus), beating its previous best of 9422 vehicles in 2010.

It's been a mixed time at Toyota lately, with the news that the carmaker has sold more than one million hybrid vehicles worldwide in a calendar year for the first time (Toyota says its cumulative hybrid sales are now more than 4.6 million units) being joined by a string of vehicle recalls.

Car Advice