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Toyota Electric Cars
The push to produce electric cars, and especially plug-in electric cars, to the mass market was announced in early 2008. As per the news releases from that time, Toyota gave details of its plans that outlined sales to start in 2010 with models of lithium-ion battery equipped plug-in hybrid vehicles. As a plug in hybrid, these cars can be considered as close to fully electric car as it is feasible with modern requirements for speed and comfort. The new plug in electric hybrids will be done in co-operation with Toyota and the Matsushita Group at the Omori Plant in central Japan of their joint venture company, Panasonic EV Energy Co. Ltd. This is the next step forward in the push for mass-market production of plug-in hybrid vehicles, away from the vehicles that have electric engines mostly depending on the gas engine to be recharged. Preceding the announcement, Toyota had done extensive test with their nickel-metal hydride battery equipped plug-in hybrid vehicles in Japan, the United States, and Europe during 2007. The tests of these advanced plug in cars was done in the United States in co-operation with the University of California, Irvine, under the State of California's Alternative Fuel Incentive Programme. In addition to plug-in hybrid vehicles, Toyota is advancing the push on other alternative fuel propulsion systems including fuel cell hybrid, flexible or flex-fuel vehicles, and new diesel engine technologies that can be combined in a hybrid like fashion with electric motor.
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