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Toyota's concept car at show
By Alan Ohnsman |
January 12, 2009, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
WITH the unveiling of the FT-EV 2009 Concept car, Toyota Motor Corp plans to sell the battery-powered car in the United States by 2012, which can be recharged at electrical outlets.
A concept version of the FT-EV "urban commuter" car will be at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit which started yesterday, Toyota said in a statement on Saturday.
The world's largest seller of hybrids didn't say how much the model, a modified version of the iQ minicar sold in Japan, may cost.
Toyota is readying the FT-EV as alternatives to gasoline expand. They range from plug-ins, including a version of Toyota's Prius and GM's Volt, to electric cars from Nissan Motor Co, Tesla Motors Inc and Fisker Automotive Inc. Gasoline prices, which set a record in the US last year, and pressure from governments to trim carbon dioxide emissions, are driving demand, Bloomberg News said.
"Last summer's US$4-a-gallon gasoline was no anomaly, it was a brief glimpse of our future," Irv Miller, US group vice president of public affairs for the Japanese firm, said in the statement.
"We must address the inevitability of peak oil by developing vehicles powered by alternatives to liquid-oil fuel, as well as new concepts, like the iQ, that are lighter in weight and smaller in size," he said. "This kind of vehicle, electrified or not, is where our industry must focus its creativity."
Toyota's two-door electric car seats four people and will travel at least 80 kilometers "between home and work," the company said.
A concept version of the FT-EV "urban commuter" car will be at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit which started yesterday, Toyota said in a statement on Saturday.
The world's largest seller of hybrids didn't say how much the model, a modified version of the iQ minicar sold in Japan, may cost.
Toyota is readying the FT-EV as alternatives to gasoline expand. They range from plug-ins, including a version of Toyota's Prius and GM's Volt, to electric cars from Nissan Motor Co, Tesla Motors Inc and Fisker Automotive Inc. Gasoline prices, which set a record in the US last year, and pressure from governments to trim carbon dioxide emissions, are driving demand, Bloomberg News said.
"Last summer's US$4-a-gallon gasoline was no anomaly, it was a brief glimpse of our future," Irv Miller, US group vice president of public affairs for the Japanese firm, said in the statement.
"We must address the inevitability of peak oil by developing vehicles powered by alternatives to liquid-oil fuel, as well as new concepts, like the iQ, that are lighter in weight and smaller in size," he said. "This kind of vehicle, electrified or not, is where our industry must focus its creativity."
Toyota's two-door electric car seats four people and will travel at least 80 kilometers "between home and work," the company said.
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