Toyota cuts price of plug-in Prius

Chris Woodyard | USA TODAY

Toyota's plug-in Prius is joining the list of electric cars that are getting price cuts.

Toyota is knocking $2,000 off the base price of the plug-in version of the most-popular hybrid car. Now it will start at $29,990 plus delivery fee. An advanced version of the plug-in will see a $4,620 price cut.

It joins Nissan Leaf, Chevrolet Volt and Honda Fit EV on the list of automakers that have bumped thousands of dollars from the price of their electric cars in an effort to boost sales. And it's not an easy choice: because of their expensive batteries, electric cars are already far less profitable for automakers than conventional cars.

Toyota sold 1,152 Prius Plug-Ins last month, down 30.3% from the same month last year. While Toyota sold 186,756 of its original Prius through the first nine months of the year, the plug-in version has sold only 7,976.

While a $2,000 price cut isn't as dramatic for the Plug-In Prius as some of its competitors, Toyota is throwing more standard features into the vehicle as well. They include heated seats, automatic climate control and the ability to now go a long ways in EV mode, to save more gas.