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Toyota's Plug-In Hybrid

The automaker could sell cars that allow short trips fueled by electricity alone before GM does.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

By Kevin Bullis

Toyota says that it has developed a "plug-in hybrid" that's certified for use on public roads in Japan. The move may put Toyota, at least for now, ahead in a race among major automakers to bring such vehicles to market--vehicles that would allow drivers to rely on electricity from the grid for short trips. For longer trips or to help with acceleration, a gas engine kicks in. And unlike with electric cars, plugging in plug-ins is optional.

In the case of the new Toyota vehicle (dubbed for now simply Plug-in HV), the electric-only trips will be very short--just eight miles on a single charge. That electric range is a fraction of the 33 miles that Americans drive on average each day. But those electric miles will still save a considerable amount of gas.

Toyota's chief competitor is General Motors (GM), which less than a year ago began touting its plan to develop two plug-in hybrid vehicles, neither of which is ready yet. (See "Powering GM's Electric Vehicles" and "GM's New Electric Vehicle.") One plug-in hybrid, a version of its Saturn Vue, would have an electric range similar to that of the Toyota car: about 10 miles. The other is an entirely new vehicle called the Volt, an electric car that would use power stored from the grid for the first 40 miles, then rely on electricity from an onboard gasoline-powered generator for another 600 miles.

Toyota may be slightly ahead at bringing a plug-in to market. But the company has done this by relying on conventional batteries--the same nickel-metal-hydride batteries it uses now in the Toyota Prius. GM is opting for advanced lithium-ion batteries, which are much lighter and smaller, and therefore can provide greater range without sacrificing cargo space. (Advanced lithium-ion batteries are not prone to explosions, unlike the lithium-ion batteries used in laptops today, which have led to massive product recalls.) But lithium-ion batteries have yet to be proved in production vehicles.

The question is whether it's better to go with established battery technology at first, then shift to better technology later, as Toyota seems to be doing, or to follow GM's approach, which is to specifically design vehicles from the beginning for a superior battery technology, even though this could delay the first vehicles.

Felix Kramer, a longtime advocate of plug-in hybrids at an organization called Cal Cars, supports the first approach. The idea is to get vehicles on the road, driven by actual customers, as soon as possible as a way to gain valuable insight for a next-generation car. In practice, this is what happened with the Toyota Prius. Most people won't recall the early version of this car, which looked like an ordinary sedan. The next iteration, with the distinct styling of today's Prius, improved as a result of lessons learned from the first iteration and performed much better. Sales of the Prius have taken off in the past few years.

But GM is betting that the new battery technology will be worth the wait. Toyota may have the first plug-in on the market, but GM may have the first plug-in that most Americans can use for commuting without using gasoline. The Volt's anticipated 40-mile plug-in range is more than Americans, on average, drive each day, allowing many to skip trips to the gas station. For most drivers (who drive farther than eight miles between charges), the Toyota vehicle will offer only fewer trips to top off with $3-a-gallon gas, a less-compelling incremental improvement.

In all of this, however, Toyota has the huge advantage of having led the way with hybrids, while GM is perhaps best known for gas-guzzling SUVs and for scrapping its electric car, the EV-1. Overall, the best news for consumers is that the automakers are competing. That keeps the pressure on to get these cars on the market.

Tags: electric vehicles, GM, plug-in hybrid, Toyota

Comments

	Toyota Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle EVangel on 07/26/2007 at 6:10 PM
Posts: 4 Avg Rating:	I am encouraged by Toyota's announcement that it will be testing a new plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV, as we EVangelists have it.) Even with just 8 electric-only miles, for an average trip of 33 miles the vehicle will get over 50 mpg (assuming 40 mpg for the 25 gas-driven miles,) over twice what US vehicles now achieve. Toyota is doing this now, with proven nickel metal hydride batteries, such as still power surviving RAV4-EVs 120 miles per charge. General Motors' Volt will appear in 2011 only if GM soon decides which of the available lithium batteries meet its needs. Hugh E Webber Florida chapter, Electric Auto Association Rate this comment: (Reply)

	Plug In Hybrids geisemann on 07/27/2007 at 12:42 AM
Posts: 2 Avg Rating:	GM was the First, When they made the EV1 they later made test one with a small engine to charge the battery. This was given to key people for testing. Toyota is a very poor company they lie to make sales its not a quality company. Did Toyota pay off this author? This is another one of Toyota lies like the Prius gets 60 MPG when it really Gets 40 MPG. I think people need to support American Engineering and stop supporting Foreign owned companies that lie to make sales. Rate this comment: (Reply)

	Re: Plug In Hybrids GaryB on 07/27/2007 at 5:18 PM
Posts: 42 Avg Rating:	I think people ought to buy the best engineering money can buy and then we'll have better engineering. Toyota makes reliable vehicles and is willing to risk putting out a sustained effort to advance vehicle efficiency. They're great. But these days, it's easier to go beyond brand loyalty by just surfing the web for info on the best car. Buy the best. Rate this comment: (Reply)

	Re: Plug In Hybrids kWh on 07/28/2007 at 11:50 PM
Posts: 1 Avg Rating:	Have you ever driven a Prius or know someone who owns one? Probably not I'm thinking. I will not B.S. you in saying that I get 65MPG in mine without any of the crazy driving techniques that some use to get 100+ MPG in their UNALTERED Prius. I've done the math personally and the miles I drive divided by the gallons pumped in come out to 65 which matches what my dashboard display says. Supporting "American" car companies just because they're american is very anti-capitalist. Toyota at least provides a little more job security for its american auto workers compared to their "domestic" counterparts. And, the big three get a majority of their parts from foreign suppliers anyway. Rate this comment: (Reply)

	please ... Toyota ... hurry up ! Sjobeck on 07/30/2007 at 3:06 AM
Posts: 17 Avg Rating:	please ... Toyota ... hurry up ! We can not wait another year for this. North America, heck, the world, needs this ASAP. Please put it out in limited releases right now & let us plan on upgrading, repairing, replacing those autos as we go. The Prius is a huge hit; just leverage it in to this model, it will be huge too. The momentum will build. The other manufacturers will think to themselves, oh my gosh, they're already on to the next one & we havent even done our hybrid yet. It will kick everyone in to another gear past the one that we are in with the Prius. Here is hoping. Jason Sjobeck Rate this comment: (Reply)

	Re: please ... Toyota ... hurry up ! Solar John on 08/01/2007 at 9:57 AM
Posts: 13 Avg Rating:	Yes, hurry up Toyota, and why not use the Advanced Lithium Ion batteries? If Tesla Motors can build a car that goes 200 miles on a charge, you should be able to produce a comfortable car that gets 100 miles or so. And it seems to me that modifying a Prius is not the way to go. Why add the weight of an IC-engine when you could simply have an on-board generator (to recharge the batteries) instead? John at: http://solarjohn.blogspot.com Rate this comment: (Reply)

	Re: please ... Toyota ... hurry up ! radiocycle on 11/12/2007 at 11:09 PM
Posts: 1	Yes! We are a retired couple with two cars and we can't wait! Please bring the plug-in on now! We will buy the first plug-in that comes to market. We will sell both of our "ice" vehicles and buy a PHEV. Please Toyota forge ahead! We are ready now! Ross & Jean Rate this comment: (Reply)

	Low cost low mileage I'll take it! SayI on 09/18/2007 at 11:18 AM
Posts: 1	10 Km is all I need! I can drive to work then home, do the shopping and plug this in. I have solar power at home so I am doing my bit. I am guessing that the low battery range will be reflected in a negligible price increase? Any news on the price? Rate this comment: (Reply)

	PLEASE TOYOTA... GAS $4.00 GAL :-( Pluginow on 04/22/2008 at 5:00 AM
Posts: 1	GOD HELP US $4.00 A GALLON IS DESTROYING OUR WAY OF LIFE. INFLATION IS OUT OF CONTROL, WE CAN"T AFFORD TO BUY HEALTH INSURANCE, WE ARE DESTROYING THE ENVIORNMENT, WE ARE AT WAR FOR OIL, WHEN WILL THIS NIGHTMARE END? SOLAR PANELS + PLUG IN HYBRIDS IS THE ANSWER! Rate this comment: (Reply)

	Re: PLEASE TOYOTA... GAS $4.00 GAL :-( Daveyj69 on 04/23/2008 at 10:02 AM
Posts: 1	Interesting..desperation($4/gal) brings out the Apr 08 replies. Yes the world is a mess. Let's hope plug-ins is a big piece of the puzzle in straigtening things out. We need congress to vastly expand the tax incentives for purchasing these vehicles. Any chance of that happening???? Rate this comment: (Reply)

	Toyota Hybrid Plug-in Technology AutoG on 08/05/2008 at 12:22 PM
Posts: 1	Alternative fuel is definitely going to be the future of the Auto Industry. As the current fuel prices doesn’t seem to cool down in the near future, its time for the auto manufacturers to think on this alternative fuel technology seriously. One company which always thinks ahead & works faster is the Toyota. Toyota would be first company which is at least a year or two away from launching the next generation of hybrids, called “plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs)“, that recharge by plugging into a wall outlet. Read more @ http://www.iwebie.com/toyota-plug-in-hybrid-technology I would like to know how soon these cars would hit the markets & also the cost of owership Cheers!!! Rate this comment: (Reply)

	Toyota's Plug-In Hybrid Boot Dr on 08/22/2008 at 7:00 PM
Posts: 1	The companies in this article could work with AFS Trinity (see) www.afstrinity.com and have a Saturn Vue that gets 150mpg or in a standard size car that could get 200+mpg. This company is trying to get the car companies to license this technology but at this time it looks like they want to come up with their own design on their own time table instead of using something from someone else now. Rate this comment: (Reply)

	NO gas....GO ELECTRIC!!! sj.greenlady on 11/14/2008 at 3:35 PM
Posts: 2	I am a South Jersey Green Advocate and was very excited when I found the following information: First legitimate electric car coming to the market. Safe, reliable and affordable. Check it out............ Article: http://planetgreen.discovery.com/tech-transport/electric-c100-vehicle.html Video-You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hog9wpZCg8U BeGreen Advocate Rate this comment: (Reply)