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Toyota Motor Corp., raising the ante with General Motors Corp. and other automakers in the race to market more fuel efficient light vehicles and meet tougher environmental regulations, announced plans today to market a plug-in hybrid by 2010 for commercial use, and will introduce additional dedicated gasoline-electric hybrids for the Toyota and Lexus brands a year from now.

But in perhaps the automaker's biggest salvo, Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe vowed to meet the U.S. government's tough new fuel economy standards - they require an automaker's fleet average 35 miles per gallon by 2020 - well ahead of the deadline.

"As always, we will not wait until the deadline to comply," Watanabe said. "I have issued a challenge to our engineers to meet the new standard well in advance. Toyota is capable of doing it."

Toyota plans to offer a fleet of plug-in hybrids for commercial test purposes by 2010. A plug-in hybrid can be recharged using household current, while offering a range of 200 miles or more in conjunction with small gasoline or diesel engines.

GM is also planning to market a plug-in hybrid by 2010, though the battery technology needed to pull it off is still under development by multiple companies scrambling to overcome hurdles, such as fire risks.

In addition to the plug-in hybrid, Watanabe said Toyota planned to meet the more stringent fuel economy targets in other ways.

Toyota will introduce a clean diesel V-8 engine to power the Toyota Tundra pickup and Sequoia sport-utility vehicle in the near future.

And the automaker is also expanding a joint-venture with Panasonic to boost lithium battery production for automotive use.

The additional, dedicated hybrid models for Toyota and Lexus would join the Toyota Prius, and help Toyota reach a goal of selling 1 million hybrid models a year in the next decade.

The success of the Prius - U.S. sales reached 180,000 units in 2007 - is prompting Toyota to expand the brand with other models, such as a wagon.

Toyota currently spends $1 million per hour on research and development to engineer cars and technologies of the future, Watanabe said.

SOURCE:

http://info.detnews.com/redesign/blogs/autoshowblog/index.cfm?blogID=211

Quote:

By Alice Hill
RealTechNews

Gas prices in the US are hitting record levels most drivers are not enjoying, to say the least. This has prompted a lot of interest in Hybrids - an intriguing half-electric, half combustion engine auto technology I have been personally covering for years. First, we published a basic nuts and bolts piece on how hybrids work, to get us all up to speed. But we recently uncovered some more bracing news: today’s hybrid may not be the big money lifesaver you thought it was. Joe White, Detroit Bureau Chief for The Wall Street Journal did a cost test and concluded that hybrids today are no bargain. Read on:

“White first looked at trading in his Subaru for a Prius, and found that at roughly $3 per gallon for gas, he wouldn’t recover his financing costs. Joe figured that at his annual mileage, he’d save about $746 a year in fuel costs, but it would take too long to recover the premium he’d pay for the hybrid.

“Next he looked at the hypothetical situation of someone without a car looking to buy either a Honda Civic or the Prius. In this case, the fuel savings were roughly $506 per year, versus a purchase price difference of about $8,000. Without even considering cost-of-money issues, it would take nearly 16 years just to break even.”

http://www.autoblog.com/2005/10/02/do-hybrids-save-money/

Next he looked at the hypothetical situation of someone without a car looking to buy either a Honda Civic or the Prius. In this case, the fuel savings were roughly $506 per year, versus a purchase price difference of about $8,000. Without even considering cost-of-money issues, it would take nearly 16 years just to break even.

With the current tax deduction of $2,000 converting to a $2,000 tax credit January 1, which decreases every year thereafter, the government subsidies don�t make the switch economically feasible, either.

The bottom line? Unless gas prices go a lot higher, or the government increases hybrid subsidies, or both, buying a hybrid probably won�t save you money. Of course, there are the intangible but real benefits of reducing your personal environmental impact, but then you have to ask yourself if you�re really getting the biggest bang for your environmental investment.

Source:

http://www.autoblog.com/2005/10/02/do-hybrids-save-money/

and

http://www.realtechnews.com/posts/1901

There's a really neat documentary out there called "Who Killed the Electric Car?" ( http://www.sonyclassics.com/whokilledtheelectriccar/ has a trailer on it ) . GM, Toyota, and Honda all had Electric cars @ one time that they were testing on consumers in California. These were all great cars that would have a great, logical alternative and they literally disappeared. The documentary reviews who crushed the projects...the car companies, the oil companies, etc. I watched it on HBO, Showtime, or one of the movie channels, can't remember which one, but it actually was a really cool interesting movie. Would highly recommend you watch it.

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