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February 3, 2009 | VOLUME 3, ISSUE 2 |  |
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2009 Toyota FT-EV Concept
By James Tate | ||||
   
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Just when you thought Japan’s most notable auto manufacturer was going to rest on its laurels and allow the Germans and the Chinese to be first to bring mass-production electric vehicles to North America, Toyota dropped the FT-EV Concept on the media here in Detroit. If it turns half as many heads as the company hopes, it’ll be a significant step in broadening Toyota’s scope of alternative-fuel development. The FT-EV may work mechanically in much the same manner as its competition, but no existing EV concept can boast the audacious graphics and styling of this one – it looks as if the folks at Scion have definitely had their hands on blinging it out. As with offerings by BYD Auto and MINI, the FT-EV has a range of around 50 miles and is primarily intended for urban commuting. In a perfect world, Toyota would like you to have one of these parked in your driveway for grocery getting, and a Camry Hybrid for visiting the relatives. As we’d previously guessed, the vehicle shares its platform with the iQ urban commuter vehicle, which means it should seat four, and as you can see, it retains the same “youthful and sporty” image(read: cartoonish and anything but sporty). Toyota plans to launch a production urban commuter,battery-electric vehicle by 2012, and no, it won’t have chrome wheels or gold accents. The reasoning is simple: Four bucks a gallon wasn’t an anomaly, it’s the future, according to Irv Miller, Toyota Motor Sales group vice president, who stressed the importance of building vehicles that are both smaller and lighter, regardless of the fuels they use. “This kind of vehicle, electrified or not, is where our industry must focus its creativity.” Vehicles like the iQ will be an increasingly important part of Toyota’s sustainable-mobility strategy. But the company stressed that “traditional” hybrids like the Prius and the new Lexus HS250h will continue to be the core of the company’s powertrain technology -- and,for that matter, the way Toyota will reach its goal of selling 1 million gas-electric hybrids per year sometime in the next decade. In late 2009, Toyota will start distributing plug-in versions of the Prius hybrid to global lease-fleet customers, 150 of which will make it to the U.S. These plug-in variants will be powered by lithium-ion batteries, as opposed to the cheaper (and heavier) nickel-metal hydride batteries used in the conventional Prius. Like MINI’s E, these models will serve as guinea pigs to test long-term performance and durability of first-generation lithium-ion batteries. |
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