Toyota Plans Pure Electric Car, Moves Up Testing of Plug-In Prius Hybrids

Right, Toyota's E-Com electric vehicle.

Five years after putting the kabosh on its rechargeable RAV4 all-electric SUV, Toyota Motor Corp. announced today that it's back in the EV game, developing a plug-in electric-powered commuter car.

Japan's largest automaker also said that it intends to speed up testing of plug-in Prius hybrids, which will contain the latest advances in battery technology.

The all-electric car will be "mass-produced'' in the early 2010s, President Katsuaki Watanabe said today in Tokyo without elaborating. Tests of rechargeable Priuses, previously set for 2010, were moved up to late 2009. Currently available Priuses can operate on electricity and gasoline but cannot be plugged in.

The move to develop an electric vehicle now reflects rising demand for fuel-efficient cars amid high gas prices. It also means Toyota will bring its plug-in EV to market in late 2010, which is just about the time General Motors intends to begin shipping its plug-in Chevrolet Volt to dealers.

Plug-in hybrids can be recharged using a household outlet. Current hybrids capture power from braking when the vehicles are in motion and rely on an onboard gasoline engine to generate electricity for the battery pack and electric motor or to supply power directly to the wheels as needed, but their batteries cannot be recharged from an outlet.

Toyota's rechargeable Prius will use lithium-ion batteries, an advance over the nickel-metal hydride versions in existing hybrids.

Rechargeable Priuses with extra nickel-metal batteries are now being tested in California and Japan, with a range of about 7 miles on battery power alone. Toyota estimates the new plug-ins will be able to travel 10 miles on a charge.

"We'll be studying the range, but think we'll need more than that for a consumer version,'' Toyota spokesman John Hanson told Bloomberg news service today in an interview from Tokyo. "Non-consumer fleets'' such as utilities will use the vehicles, Hanson said.

GM wants the Volt to have at least 40 miles of all-electric range before relying on a gasoline engine to generate electricity for the Volt's electric motor.

Toyota is building on its own experiments with all-electric vehicles, including testing fleets of E-Com electric minicars in Japan. To meet California air-quality regulations, it leased electric versions of its RAV4 small SUV (above, left) about a year ending in early 2003. Many of the vehicles can still be seen on roads in the Golden State.

Scott Doggett, Contributor

Posted by

Scott Doggett August 29, 2008, 4:35 PM

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Batteries, Chevrolet, Emissions, Fuel Economy, General Motors, Hybrid, Plug-ins and Electric, Toyota