Toyota is introducing a plug-in hybrid with next-generation lithium-ion batteries in Japan, the US and Europe by 2010, under a widespread environmental strategy outlined yesterday.
The ecological gas-electric vehicles, which can be recharged from a home electrical outlet, will target leasing customers, Toyota Motor Corp said.
Such plug-in hybrids can run longer as an electric vehicle than regular hybrids and are substantially cleaner.
PHOTO: EPA
Lithium-ion batteries, now common in laptops, produce more power and are smaller than nickel-metal hydride batteries used in hybrids now.
The joint venture that Toyota set up with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, which manufactures Panasonic products, will begin producing lithium-ion batteries next year and move into full-scale production in 2010, Toyota said.
Toyota also said it would be setting up a battery research department later this month to develop an innovative battery that can outperform even that lithium-ion battery.
Japan’s top automaker, which leads the industry in gas-electric hybrids, has said it will rev up hybrid sales to 1 million a year sometime after 2010.
Hybrid vehicles reduce the pollution and emissions that are linked to global warming by switching between a gas engine and an electric motor to deliver better mileage than comparable standard cars.
Their popularity has been growing amid soaring oil prices and worries about global warming.
“Without focusing on measures to address global warming and energy issues, there can be no future for our auto business,” Toyota president Katsuaki Watanabe told reporters at a Tokyo hall yesterday.
He said that developing breakthrough technology would be critical to allow Toyota and other automakers to continue to grow while avoiding damage to the environment.
The Prius, which has been on sale for more than a decade, recently reached cumulative sales of 1 million vehicles.
When including other Toyota hybrids, the company said it sold 1.5 million hybrids so far around the world.
Toyota said that it is also working on the development of fuel-cell vehicles, which produce no pollution by running on the energy produced when hydrogen combines with oxygen in the air to produce water.
It is also improving mileage of all its models, including gasoline engine and clean diesel vehicles, it said.
It plans to set up more environmentally friendly factories that will produce fewer carbon gas emissions and develop production techniques that require less energy, using solar energy and planting trees, Watanabe said.
On Tuesday, Toyota said it would start making the Camry hybrid in Australia and Thailand as part of its efforts to step up production of “green” cars around the world.
The two plants were only Toyota’s second and third overseas production point for the Camry hybrid after its Kentucky plant in the US.
Aside from Japan, the only other country where Toyota manufactures its hybrids is China.
Toyota, close to overtaking General Motors Corp of the US as the world’s No. 1 automaker, faces competition from rivals, which are also all working on ecological technology.
For 2010, General Motors is planning a Chevrolet Volt plug-in electric vehicle, while Nissan Motor Co is planning electric vehicles for the US and Japan.
Honda Motor Co is also developing new hybrid models, targeting sales of 500,000 hybrids a year sometime after 2010.
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
CRITICAL MOVE: TSMC’s plan to invest another US$100 billion in US chipmaking would boost Taiwan’s competitive edge in the global market, the premier said The government would ensure that the most advanced chipmaking technology stays in Taiwan while assisting Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in investing overseas, the Presidential Office said yesterday. The statement follows a joint announcement by the world’s largest contract chipmaker and US President Donald Trump on Monday that TSMC would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next four years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US, which would include construction of three new chip fabrication plants, two advanced packaging facilities, and a research and development center. The government knew about the deal in advance and would assist, Presidential
‘DANGEROUS GAME’: Legislative Yuan budget cuts have already become a point of discussion for Democrats and Republicans in Washington, Elbridge Colby said Taiwan’s fall to China “would be a disaster for American interests” and Taipei must raise defense spending to deter Beijing, US President Donald Trump’s pick to lead Pentagon policy, Elbridge Colby, said on Tuesday during his US Senate confirmation hearing. The nominee for US undersecretary of defense for policy told the Armed Services Committee that Washington needs to motivate Taiwan to avoid a conflict with China and that he is “profoundly disturbed” about its perceived reluctance to raise defense spending closer to 10 percent of GDP. Colby, a China hawk who also served in the Pentagon in Trump’s first team,
The arrival of a cold front tomorrow could plunge temperatures into the mid-teens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Temperatures yesterday rose to 28°C to 30°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and 32°C to 33°C in central and southern Taiwan, CWA data showed. Similar but mostly cloudy weather is expected today, the CWA said. However, the arrival of a cold air mass tomorrow would cause a rapid drop in temperatures to 15°C cooler than the previous day’s highs. The cold front, which is expected to last through the weekend, would bring steady rainfall tomorrow, along with multiple waves of showers
RSS