July 25th, 2007
Toyota “on the road” to a Plug-In Hybrid
By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
General Motors has been touting its Chevrolet Volt, pictured above, for some time … they hope to get it on the market by 2010, despite the fact that the battery technology GM intends to use still hasn’t been developed. Meanwhile, you can buy a plug-in Prius (if you get a regular Prius and upgrade it for $24,000!) … or you can look to Toyota itself, which has become the first manufacturer to receive government approval to conduct tests for a plug-in hybrid on Japanese public roads.
Takimoto declined to say when Toyota will bring a plug-in hybrid to market. Innovation in battery technology is needed, he said. “We still need some time,” he said.
The vehicle displayed Wednesday, called Toyota Plug-in HV, runs on the same nickel metal hydride battery as the Prius and has a cruising range of 8 miles on electricity. Takimoto said tests will help in deciding the range consumers want. Source: SFGate
We Say: While the Plug-in HV only has a range on electricity of 8 miles, that’s just a starter figure (I realize that GM is shooting for 40 miles). Still, I’d put my money on Toyota, if a bet were involved. They are so far ahead of U.S. manufacturers that without a major stumble, I can’t see GM, Ford, or Chrysler beating them with any sort of hybrid technology.
Druid says:
What a sad joke. If you want to see a “real” electric car go to
http://www.teslamotors.com
July 26th, 2007 at 6:20 am
Michael Santo says:
These are hybrid, not electric … also, the Tesla is a 100K car … hardly comparable to the target audience for these cars (we don’t know what the price is going to be yet, but it isn’t going to be 100K … or even 50K, as in the Prius with the plug-in hybrid aftermarket kit).
July 26th, 2007 at 11:19 am
» University of California Campuses to Test Toyota Plug-In Hybrid » Blog Archive Alice Hill’s Real Tech News - Independent Tech says:
[…] As I reported just yesterday, Toyota is starting road tests of it’s plug-in hybrid prototypes. What I didn’t know then, and know now, is that two UC California campuses will get to test them as well. Toyota announced yesterday that it has developed a plug-in hybrid vehicle and become the first manufacturer to have such a vehicle certified for use on public roads in Japan. Toyota will also provide plug-in (PHEV) hybrid prototypes to the Advanced Power and Energy Program at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) and the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Source: Auto Industry […]
July 26th, 2007 at 11:26 am