Toyota to match GM with plug-in hybrid

A DAY after announcing it would produce a Camry hybrid car in Australia – and Thailand – from 2010, Toyota Motor Corporation last week unveiled a new environmental action plan that includes the wide-scale introduction of a plug-in electric hybrid car that same year.

Taking the fight to General Motors, which claims to be on track to launch the plug-in Chevrolet Volt in 2010, TMC will unveil the plug-in hybrid at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit next January ahead of its 2010 market debut in Japan, Europe and the United States.

Previewed by the 1/X plug-in hybrid at the Tokyo motor show last October, but expected to be bigger in size, the vehicle will use a lightweight, high-power lithium-ion battery – technology that Toyota has avoided using with its hybrid vehicles to date, preferring instead to push the envelope with nickel-metal hydride (NiMH).

Significantly, TMC also announced the establishment this month of a specialised research department to develop a new-generation battery that out-performs even lithium-ion.

Left: 2010 Toyota Camry hybrid.

Like the current Prius and Lexus hybrids sold in Australia, the 2010 Camry hybrid built and sold in Australia will continue to use NiMH technology. The third-generation Prius due for release next year is also expected to continue with NiMH.

The ever-increasing range of Toyota and Lexus hybrid vehicles will not carry lithium-ion batteries until at least 2009, when Panasonic EV Energy Co – a joint-venture between TMC and the Matsushita Group – commences limited production. It will move into full-scale production in 2010, when TMC expects to reach one million hybrid sales per annum.

Other initiatives announced include the introduction later this year of a “highly efficient” six-speed manual transmission and new 1.4-litre and 2.5-litre petrol engines with stop/start technology. TMC also vowed to “accelerate the development of small electric vehicles for mass production”.

Aimed at realising a “low-carbon society”, the TMC action plan follows Nissan and Renault’s announcement late last month that they would begin mass-producing lithium-ion batteries next year in partnership with NEC.

A week later, Sanyo Electric Co said it would start mass-producing lithium-ion batteries next year, with Volkswagen, Ford and Honda among its customers, while Mitsubishi is working to a similar timetable with GS Yuasa Corporation.

Honda has also promised to launch four new hybrid vehicles by 2015.

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