DETROIT – Toyota Motor Corp. said Saturday it is confirming plans to have an all-electric vehicle on U.S. roads by 2012 by introducing an ultra-compact battery-powered concept car at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
"Last summer's $4-a-gallon gasoline was no anomaly," said Irv Miller, vice president of Toyota Motor Sales USA. "It was a brief glimpse of our future. We must address the inevitability of peak oil by developing vehicles powered by alternatives to liquid-oil fuel."
GM says it plans to have the highly anticipated Chevrolet Volt in showrooms by 2010. The rechargeable gas-electric car is expected to travel 40 miles on electricity alone, then a gasoline engine kicks in to extend its range.
Chrysler, meanwhile, unveiled three electric car prototypes last year — a Dodge sports car, a Jeep Wrangler and a Chrysler minivan, and said it plans to put one of the three on sale next year.
In addition to the FT-EV, Toyota said it is expanding its offering of hybrid cars by launching as many as 10 new hybrid models by early next decade in markets around the world. It also said it will start global delivery of 500 Toyota Prius plug-in hybrids powered by lithium-ion batteries later this year, instead of in 2010 as originally planned. Of those, 150 will go to U.S. lease and fleet customers.
Hybrids like the Prius currently run on heavier, weaker nickel-metal hydride batteries, and they recharge through energy captured from the vehicle's braking.
