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Japanese car maker Toyota reveals its commitment to release in 2012 plug in hybrids for mass consumption. The first batch of lithium-ion battery powered vehicles will
be out by next year and will be ready for government and commercial fleets in Japan, Europe, and the United States. Mass production of the fuel efficient and environment-friendly vehicles will be by 2012.
A Japanese newspaper reports that Toyota will be producing between 20000 and 30000 units of plug-in hybrids come 2012. This will be two years after GM kicks off the production of the 2011 Chevrolet Volt.
A plug-in hybrid that was derived from the platform of the current Prius hybrid is expected to go to dealerships in Japan this month. This car will have a tag price starting at $47,800. The car will be able to travel for about 18.6 miles running on electric power alone. It depends on a pack of lithium ion batteries made by Panasonic EV Energy.
Toyota does not want to confirm any latest development with the plug-in hybrid cars they are producing.
A previous report verified that Toyota is fast tracking its global trials of about 500 units of plug-in hybrids by end of 2009. These cars will be ready for commercial and government fleets. Japan will keep about 200 vehicles for testing while 150 will go to Europe and the other 150 for the U.S. market.
The plug-in hybrid variant of the Prius returned a 30% improvement in terms of fuel mileage compared to the 2010 Prius which is already considered as the most fuel efficient in the U.S.
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