The first of the additional styling that we might see on the Prius is the 2-door coupe that will target to topple the 2011 hybrid Honda CR-Z sports coupe.

The future member of the Prius line is expected to sport the same 4-cylinder 1.8L engine and Hybrid Synergy Drive set up of the current release of the Prius. The package though might come with better aerodynamics than the 5-door version which already boasts of a 0.25 drag coefficient– among the best for production cars today. The Prius coupe will also be a lot lighter than the family variant.

The Prius vehicles will see other new members like a small minivan that may rival the 2010 Mazda5 in terms of size and capacity. The Mazda5 is one class smaller than the current Toyota Sienna which is considered as one of the top choices for minivans in the United States.

The new members of the Prius line up will face off against hybrid models that will roll off the factories of Honda which is pushing harder to make their line up greener than it was originally planned.

A Japanese newspaper reports that Toyota will be producing between 20000 and 30000 units of plug-in hybrids come 2012. This will be two years after GM kicks off the production of the 2011 Chevrolet Volt.

A plug-in hybrid that was derived from the platform of the current Prius hybrid is expected to go to dealerships in Japan this month. This car will have a tag price starting at $47,800. The car will be able to travel for about 18.6 miles running on electric power alone. It depends on a pack of lithium ion batteries made by Panasonic EV Energy.

Toyota does not want to confirm any latest development with the plug-in hybrid cars they are producing.

A previous report verified that Toyota is fast tracking its global trials of about 500 units of plug-in hybrids by end of 2009. These cars will be ready for commercial and government fleets. Japan will keep about 200 vehicles for testing while 150 will go to Europe and the other 150 for the U.S. market.

The plug-in hybrid variant of the Prius returned a 30% improvement in terms of fuel mileage compared to the 2010 Prius which is already considered as the most fuel efficient in the U.S.