As everyone in the automotive media was crawling over the production Volt yesterday, Automotive News reports that Toyota was complaining to congressional leaders about the vehicle. Namely, about pending legislation that seems to benefit the new Chevy plug-in to the detriment of others, particularly the upcoming Prius plug-in. At issue is a tax package that would make tax credits available to plug-ins with at least 6 kilowatt-hours of stored electric power — a level the Volt would reportedly reach but other plug-in hybrids currently planned would not.

Jalopnik Snap Judgment: Since credits could reach as high as $7,500 for light-duty vehicles, the potential impact of the legislation is significant; however, if Toyota brings in a competitive product for less money than the Volt would cost, even with tax breaks figured in, we'd imagine the impact on their bottom line would be minimal. Knowing Toyota, that's exactly what they plan to do, but we certainly can't blame them for whining about a "level playing field." The domestics have been doing it for years. [Detroit News]

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