Hybrid Car Review

In a far reaching outline for the future, Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe laid out the future for Toyota far in the next decade at a press conference on Wednesday.

Toyota promised they will have a plug-in hybrid on the road in Japan, the US and in Europe by 2010. The new plug-in hybrid will target fleet customers and will be powered by lithium-ion battery packs.

The battery packs that will power the new plug-in hybrids will begin production in 2009 and will be ready for the plug-in cars by 2010. Toyota is partnering with Matsushiat Electric Industrial Co., which makes Panasonic products.

"Toyota also aims to develop a battery that significantly outperforms lithium-ion batteries," Watanabe said.

And in the really long term lookout, Watanabe said Toyota will be have hybrid version on all models sometime between 2020 to 2029.

Other fuel economy improvements from Toyota include:

• A reduction in size and weight. This will be exemplified by the IQ, a car that will seat four and yet be less than 3 meters long.
• A new 1.3-liter and 2.5-liter engines will be introduced in 2008. The new 1.3-liter gasoline engine is equipped with the newly developed Toyota Stop-Start system.
• While advancing multi-stage automatic transmissions and continuously variable transmissions, Toyota will introduce a highly efficient compact six-speed manual transmission in the fall of 2008.

• TMC's aim is to achieve hybrid vehicle sales of 1 million vehicles annually as early in the 2010s as possible and to strive for further popularization.
• TMC is working to further reduce the size, weight and cost of motors, inverters, batteries and other hybrid system components.
• In addition to already producing hybrid vehicles in China and the United States, TMC recently decided to produce hybrid vehicles in Thailand and Australia. We intend to continue to expand our overseas hybrid vehicle production efforts.

• Toyota is also looking to accelerate development of small electric vehicles for mass production.
• MC is reinforcing its structure of survey-based global energy analysis by establishing energy research organizations in Japan and the United States.
• TMC is conducting research on a cellulosic ethanol that can both avert competition with food supplies and ensure a stable supply. The distinctive feature of TMC's research is the focus on using technologies that involve yeast.
• TMC is conducting joint research with Nippon Oil Corporation on high-concentration bio hydrofined diesel (also known as "BHD") as a bio-fuel alternative to petroleum-based diesel. So far, the research has led to vast improvement in the oxidative stability of BHD, enabling the fuel to perform on par with conventional diesel.
• TMC is conducting research on biomass-to-liquid (also known as "BTL"), which is derived from synthesizing gas made from all types of biomass, including cellulose.