Its nickel metal hydride battery provides small bursts of power in stop-and-go traffic.

FORBES: Magazine Article

The c's program managers were thus obliged to dial back to the previous generation's 1.5-liter engine (the Gen III Prius uses a 1.8-liter), a smaller traction motor (60 hp vs. 80 hp) and a lighter, cheaper nickel-metal hydride battery (19.3 kilowatts vs. 27 kW).

WSJ: 2012 Toyota Prius c Review: Pleasure Not Included | Rumble Seat by Dan Neil

Toyota's top hybrid engineers say they are all for plug-ins, but they don't think the lithium-ion batteries they depend on will be ready to meet their stringent quality standards for several years. (They cannot resist a polite titter about spontaneously combusting laptop batteries.) Toyota is therefore likely to stick with the heavy and range-limited nickel-metal hydride battery for the third-generation Prius, due in 2009.

ECONOMIST: Hybrid cars: Beyond the Prius | The

It is intended to deliver ambient light rather than directed light for tasks, and contains a nickel-metal-hydride battery, rather than a cheaper nickel-cadmium cell.

ECONOMIST: Solar lighting

Its original nickel-metal-hydride battery packs have been replaced with lead acid batteries to extend the distance the car can travel on electricity.

CNN: Hybrids trick out, plug in

Like the powerful nickel-metal-hydride battery in the Toyota Prius that he drives to work every day, the one with the license plate OVONIC.

FORBES: Magazine Article

And the alternatives they consider should include the one that Sadoway recommended a safer, but less powerful Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) battery.

FORBES: Will 787 Battery Redesign Work?

While the nickel metal hydride (Ni-MH) battery will remain the choice for Prius, Camry and Highlander hybrids, Toyota is doing some research and development with lithium ion batteries.

CNN: Hybrids trick out, plug in

Toyota and its battery suppliers have a head start on the nickel metal hydride batteries used in today's hybrids.

FORBES: Magazine Article