Plug-in hybrids which can run on electric power only as well as using petrol engine power for longer journeys offer the best solution for 21st century motoring, Graham Smith, managing director of Toyota Motor Europe told delegates at the International Automotive Conference in Sunderland yesterday.
"But it will take time for consumers to adapt to the idea of driving a car that you can plug into a socket," he warned the 140 delegates at Sunderland AFC’s Stadium of Light.
Hybrids will bridge the gap between now and the arrival of hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles, Mr Smith predicted-contrary to the plans of some rival carmakers who are focusing on fully electric cars.
Toyota will offer a hybrid version of every model in its range by the early 2020s, he confirmed. A UK-built Auris HSD (hybrid synergy drive), using the conventional hybrid technology currently used in the Prius model, will go on sale this summer and is a ‘strong indication of where we are going’, he said.
Toyota is known for its focus on extending hybrid production after its first hybrid model, the Prius became an international phenomenon. Rivals including Mitsubishi and Nissan are focusing on producing full electric car models. Both are planning to launch electric car models in the UK by 2011. Nissan’s all-electric four seater, the LEAF will arrive next March while Mitsubishi aims to deliver its first i-MiEV models to customers in January 2011.
However Toyota believes that electric-only vehicles will only suitable for short journeys in city and suburban areas. "They will have a role to play but it is not a major one," Smith explained.
One advantage of the research into alternative-powered vehicles is that the batteries, electric motors and software are common to hybrids, EVs and fuel cells, Smith added.
"Whichever route manufacturers take we have to be successful as an industry if we are to maintain personal transport,” he said.
Toyota will launch a 36-month trial of plug-in hybrids this summer in London using 20 vehicles. The trial has already started in France.
The advantage of plug-in hybrids is that for journeys under 10km they run of electric power only and are zero emission. For journeys under 25km – which represent 80 per cent of trips -the vehicle will run in hybrid mode using the petrol engine, with CO2 emissions 60 per cent less than the Prius mild hybrid, Smith told news agency Headlineauto.
However there are fears that plug-in hybrids could be prohibitively expensive, costing much more than either equivalent full electric car models or conventionally-fuelled cars. Much depends on continued developments within the sector, with the Japanese carmaker at the forefront of investment and research into plug-in hybrid technology.
The Sunderland International Automotive Conference at the Sunderland AFC Stadium of Light opened on Tuesday (April 20) and ran for two days. It brought together senior manufacturing, production, engineering, logistics and transport executives from across the motor industry to discuss the global issues affecting the trade as well as the challenges involved in addressing environmental issues.
