The Issue:Just when you thought Japan’s most notable auto manufacturer was going to rest on its laurels and allow the Germans and the Chinese to be first to bring mass-production electric vehicles to North America, Toyota dropped the FT-EV Concept on the media here in Detroit. If it turns half as many heads as the company hopes, it’ll be a significant step in broadening Toyota’s scope of alternative-fuel development.
The FT-EV has a range of around 50 miles and is primarily intended for urban commuting. In a perfect world, Toyota would like you to have one of these parked in your driveway for grocery getting, and a Camry Hybrid for visiting the relatives.
The reasoning is simple: Four bucks a gallon wasn’t an anomaly, it’s the future, according to Irv Miller, Toyota Motor Sales group vice president, who stressed the importance of building vehicles that are both smaller and lighter, regardless of the fuels they use. “This kind of vehicle, electrified or not, is where our industry must focus its creativity.”
Vehicles like the iQ will be an increasingly important part of Toyota’s sustainable-mobility strategy. But the company stressed that “traditional” hybrids like the Prius and the new Lexus HS250h will continue to be the core of the company’s powertrain technology -- and, for that matter, the way Toyota will reach its goal of selling 1 million gas-electric hybrids per year sometime in the next decade.
In late 2009, Toyota will start distributing plug-in versions of the Prius hybrid to global lease-fleet customers, 150 of which will make it to the U.S. These plug-in variants will be powered by lithium-ion batteries, as opposed to the cheaper (and heavier) nickel-metal hydride batteries used in the conventional Prius. Like MINI’s E, these models will serve as guinea pigs to test long-term performance and durability of first-generation lithium-ion batteries. –Yahoo News
My Issue:
I love the car ... if I could I would own one! Now, if Detroit would think and act like the Japanese auto makers do, then they wouldn't be asking us tax payers to bail their asses out!
We will have these on the market in around 2012. In the mean time about 150 plug in Prius will enter the US for testing late this year. even with the economy on it's tail we will cointinue to invest in the vehicles of the future. Thanks for covering the FT-EV and Toyota
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