Hybrids get green light as Prius leads sales
June 5, 2009
By Yuri Kageyama Toyota City
A battery breakthrough was needed for electric vehicles to become mainstream, and hybrids would remain the best "green" car choice for some time, Masatami Takimoto, Toyota Motor's executive vice-president, said yesterday.
His comments came just hours after the Japan Automobile Dealers' Association said Toyota's Prius hybrid was the top-selling vehicle in Japan last month, with 10 915 vehicles. It clinched the top spot for the first time, even though the latest model had been on sale for only half the month.
Takimoto, who oversees Toyota's research, said the hybrid system, as used in the Prius, was the "most important of our energy-saving technologies". He repeated that his company planned to have a hybrid version of its entire line-up of products by 2020.
Despite various initiatives to promote electric vehicles around the world, the battery needed to power them still needed drastic improvement and could now offer only short-distance urban commuting, Takimoto said.
Other car makers, such as Nissan Motor, have been more bullish about electric vehicles, while working on hybrids.
Takimoto pointed to the plug-in hybrid as a practical option. A plug-in recharges from a household socket, and can run longer as an electric vehicle than a regular hybrid.
On Wednesday Toyota said it would start leasing plug-in hybrids by the end of this year in the US, Japan and Europe. But only 500 would be available worldwide in the beginning.
Dealers have received 110 000 orders for the Prius in Japan, and new orders will not be delivered before November. Toyota is targeting global sales of 400 000 Priuses a year. - AP
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