Electric cars Blog

October 1st, 2008 by admin

As Toyota, General Motors and other automakers race to bring rechargeable electric cars to showrooms, the man running much of Toyota’s research says its approach is the least costly way to get great mileage and performance in the near term.Toyota Motor Corp. plans to bring a plug-in hybrid vehicle to market sometime in 2010.The design will be similar to that of the current Prius, the most popular gas-electric hybrid car in the nation.

The plug-in will have new lithium-ion batteries and can be recharged from a home outlet. Yet unlike General Motors Corp.’s planned Chevrolet Volt, it won’t rely completely on an electric motor to turn the wheels.While it can run in electric-only mode, Toyota’s plug-in will have a small internal combustion engine that can assist the electric motor in a “blended” mode.

Going to a blended mode, you can still get that same performance, almost the same, or nearly identical environmental benefits, but much decreased cost.The current Toyota car (Prius), which can’t be plugged in for recharging but runs on both gas and electric power, has a base price of $21,500.

Toyota has been testing lithium-ion battery packs in the lab and in prototype cars. Toyota’s power packs are made by a joint venture it has with Panasonic, which is owned by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.

Experts say lithium-ion batteries are much smaller and have more energy output than current nickel-metal-hydride batteries used in most hybrid vehicles. But battery and auto makers are still trying to work out issues with heat dissipation and handling the weight of the batteries.

Toyota can reach its 2010 goal, and it is said that the Japanese automaker knows the importance of being out front with plug-in and hybrid technology. “There’s always value in being the leader, but it can’t be your primary driver.Your primary driver needs to be what’s best for society in general.”