An attractive looking minivan is hard to come by, when was the last time you saw a soccer mom cruising in a sleek looking seven-seater? But now, thanks to Toyota, there are plans to develop a Prius minivan that has early stage rendered images showing off a sleek and sexy looking automobile.

There have been rumors for a long time about the Toyota Prius minivan, but now Toyota is a lot closer to developments than ever before. The Prius seems to be expanding its fleet with its new Prius Plug-in Hybrid and the emerging hatchback Prius that is supposedly going to be launched sometime in 2011. Check in with your local Champaign Toyota dealerships for information on the Plug-in Hybrid Prius.

The Nikkei newspaper were the first to report that Toyota will begin producing a hybrid minivan, which should be expected in 2011 making itself the first Toyota production vehicle equipped with a lithium-ion battery pack developed in house. The Prius minivan will seat seven and will market itself towards the family oriented buyer.

An early price quote was said to be around $25,000, but this price could fluctuate depending on the economic situation in 2011. Considering there are very few other automotive companies pursuing hybrid minivans it will be very likely that the Prius minvan will become the first ever hybrid minivan available in the United States. This is a commodity that the public has shown interest in for a long time, being able to haul around seven people in a car with a decent fuel economy is something important to most Americans.

It was also confirmed that the minivan will use the lithium-ion batteries, which would be a first for a non-plug-in Toyota model. The lithium ion battery pack has a three-row battery situation and utilizes its core battery as the only source to provide an all-electric option. Once this all-electric battery source is depleted it will activate a second back up battery and following its depletion the system will resort back to the traditional Prius functionality.

Check out your local used Camry Champaign dealerships for information on Toyota’s best selling minivan, the Sienna, and news on the upcoming Prius minivan.