Is anybody else sick of paying the high prices at the pump? Toyota knows you are. That’s why they are racing to produce a plug-in hybrid car within the next two years.
By 2010, the Japanese automaker wants to have a hybrid electric vehicle available at Toyota dealer facilities across the United States, Europe and Japan. But in addition to simply being a plug-in hybrid, the automaker wants to use the new and improved lithium-ion battery instead of the current nickel-metal batteries. This announcement is fairly shocking as other car manufacturers say the lithium-ion battery won’t be ready for mass production by then. But if Toyota is confident about it, chances are that it’s going to happen.
To accomplish this goal, Toyota has partnered with Matsushita, a huge electronics company, to help produce the new lithium-ion batteries. They won’t start producing these batteries until 2009 and increasing the production in 2010. Toyota is also working on future batteries that are even better than the lithium-ion. The automaker created a battery research department for the sole purpose of making better batteries than the ones they have now.
There are some exciting things in store for the Toyota hybrid and electric car market. Is it any wonder why this automaker is one of the highest in demand for people looking for hybrids and fuel-efficient cars today?
