125
mpg Prius plug-in hybrid car, but not from Toyota?
Thursday, May
17, 2007
Toyota's
next generation hybrids will use lithium, but you still
won't plug them in
There is an interesting experiment taking place in the
workshops of many lithium-ion battery producers: the
creation of 100 mpg+ plug-in versions of the Toyota
Prius.
Thus far, both LTC
and A123Systems
have each demonstrated working plug-in
hybrid vehicles built upon the Prius and each
company's lithium battery packs. Both companies have
achieved 125 mpg + performance with such plug-in hybrids.
Yet, when Toyota begins to sell the third
generation Prius, probably sometime next year, the
Prius will not be a plug-in, even though the hybrid will
use lithium-ion batteries.
"Our battery is still superior," Masatami
Takimoto, executive vice president in charge of powertrain
development, recently said about Toyota's lithium
batteries compared to the competition.
According
to Reuters, "Takimoto said Toyota had been
approached by both parties as well as many other battery
makers, but dismissed their products as
"unusable" due to their low energy density.
He added that plug-in hybrids, which can be recharged
through an electric socket, were still years away from
practical application and pure electric vehicles even
further out because even with a trunk full of rechargeable
batteries, they would have a cruising range of just 60 km
(37 miles)."
So, is Toyota just being coy? Is Toyota trying to keep
expectations down to protect sales of the current Prius?
Is plug-in hybrid technology just too expensive for now?
Already there have been rumors that the third generation
Prius will achieve fuel economy of 80, 90 or even 100 mpg
- without plug-in technology. Perhaps, such mileage might
make current plug-in hybrid technology ineffective in
terms of cost/reward versus a conventional lithium-powered
Prius hybrid?
Still, I find it hard to believe that the third generation
Prius will achieve much more than 70 mpg - still a
remarkable feat - without the help of plug-in technology.
Of course, I would love to be wrong. Nonetheless, the
competition heating up in the hybrid space from
automakers, suppliers, and third-party plug-in integrators
is getting quite interesting, and one thing seems certain:
the hybrid revolution is coming.
posted by Dahcredyns
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