Toyota Takes a Backseat in the Electric Vehicle Race

Toyota Delays Release of an Electric Car Until 2012

While most automakers worldwide are rushing to build electric cars capture expected growth in the electric vehicle segment, the worlds largest automaker has declined to enter the race. For example: Mitsubishi Motors began leasing their all electric vehicle, the iMiEV, in June, and the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf will both be released in 2010. On the other hand, Toyota plans to delay the release of an electric vehicle in 2012, two years after Chevy will release the Volt, and a full year after Nissan will release the Leaf. For most, this comes as a shock considering Toyota lead the way with hybrid vehicles, most notably the environmentally conscious Prius.

Below: a photo of the interior of a Toyota Plant in St. Petersburg Russia. Apparently Toyota will delay their entry into the race to capture a share of the electric vehicle market, which automakers expect to represent as much as 10% of all autosales within the next four years.

Toyota Believes Battery Techology For EVs is Not Ready Yet

According to Toyota's executive vice president Masatami Takimoto, the lack of battery technology is a critical issue for them. Until battery life can be extended, pure electric vehicles which don't use gas tanks generally can't go further than about 100 miles. Aside from the lack of battery reliability, Toyota cites additional issues including: the lack of charging stations and the incredibly short range of purely battery powered vehicles (the leaf for example can only travel 100 miles at most). Toyota has also stated that the technology used with the batteries is unreliable and new, and they fear any failure could damage their sparkling image of reliability.

Unlike hybrids, the pure electric Nissan Leaf has Zero emissions making it quite environmentally friendly. The leaf has a range of about 100 miles and does not use any gasoline. The Nissan Leaf will be sold in 2011, while Toyota, has no current plans to make a pure EV. According to Toyota, the age of the electric car is not yet here.

Toyota Says Fears of Reputation and Potential Financial Losses Drive Late EV release Decisions

Aside from the potential reputation damage, Toyota also states they are not confident there is a big enough market for short range electric vehicles, and they also have fears of taking a large loss in addition to the 4 billion which they lost last year. Instead of venturing into the untested area of pure electric vehicles, Toyota has decided to try & first capitalize on their hybrids. In fact, Toyota remains very cautious, with plans only to release a few hundred plug-in hybrid vehicles.

The new Chevrolet Volt, powered by a lithium-ion battery pack, claims an amazing 230mpg in the city (there's no highway rating). Although it's important to know that the car uses no gasoline at all for distances under 40 miles, beyond which a gas generator turns on. For now, Toyota's only response to the new EVs hitting the market will be a revamped hybrid Prius.

Electric Car Enthusiasts Say Toyota is Unreasonable

On the other side of the argument, some electric car enthusiasts say Toyota is unreasonably pessimistic. For example, EV enthusiasts say that sufficient technology is already here--due to the advances which have already been made in batteries and magnets. New technology is also improving charge times, making them faster & faster. According to Hiroshi Shimzu of Keio university in Tokyo, electric cars also have the potential to be cheaper than conventional cars, due to the fact that they have less parts and less complex internal structures. Batteries are by no means more complex than computer chips, or other technology which is already mass produced as well. Mr. Tateuchi, a well known race car engineer, founded the Japan E.V. club to promote electric vehicles in 1994. Mr. Tateuchi states "Toyota tells people the age of electric cars is not yet here... that's just not true".

Tags: Electric Car, Electric Vehicle, Electric Vehicles, Lithium-Ion Batteries, Zero Emissions, Environmentally Friendly, Future of Cars, EV, Hybrid, Chevy Volt Electric Vehicle, Toyota Prius, Dodge Circuit EV, Nissan Leaf EV, BMW Mini E, E-mini, GM Buick Plug-In SUV, EPA MPG