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If you got it, flaunt it. Or, in the case of Toyota, rub GM's nose in it. While Rick Wagoner and his minions have been talking about their sooner-or-later plug-in electric hybrid vehicle (aka "Volt") at the Detroit Auto Show, Toyota is putting their money where Rick's mouth is. They're providing several honest-to-God here-they-are-right-now Prius plug-ins for "executive shuttle service" during the show (you can guess which company's executives won't be shuttling in them). The cars are "are early-development prototypes" used for "evaluation of real-world customer use and acceptance, ride-and-drives by regulatory officials and NGOs, and technical research and development." Oh, and also for firing a preemptive shot across GM's bow.
9 Comments on “Plug-in Wars: Toyota Takes the Gloves Off...”
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I think it is useless for GM to make hybrids. Those who are willing to spend money on a hybrid are already owned by Toyota. They will never go to a company with such a dirty image (GM).
You’ve got to admire Toyota – they don’t talk about it they just do it.
GM is living in VW… Volt Wonderland.
The party is going to get really crowded:
Electric-Car Firms Get Star Investors by Norihiko Shirouzu and Rebecca Buckman in the Wall Street Journal [$$$$ite] on January 14, 2008 at Page A2:
DETROIT — The race to develop an electric car is heating up and drawing increasing interest from the same venture-capital investors who helped build Silicon Valley.
The latest entrant is expected to be announced today at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit when Fisker Automotive Inc. unveils an $80,000 battery-powered luxury car it aims to begin delivering in late 2009. The Fisker Karma, a so-called plug-in hybrid, can go 50 miles on electricity before a small gasoline engine kicks in to generate electricity to charge a lithium-ion battery pack on board. The company has backing from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, perhaps Silicon Valley’s best-known venture-capital firm and a backer of household tech names such as Netscape Communications, Amazon.com Inc. and Google Inc. …
Thanks to Kleiner’s investment, “we have all the capital we need to move forward according to the plan,” said Henrik Fisker, a Danish-born former BMW AG and Aston Martin designer and now chief executive of the company he helped set up last year. Palo Alto Investors, a venture-capital concern, invested in Fisker in an earlier round of fund raising. …
Mr. Fisker’s vision is to sell 15,000 electric cars a year. Mr. Fisker said the Karma is environmentally responsible and capable of going 125 miles per hour, consistently. It can hit a speed of 60 mph in 5.8 seconds, equivalent to the performance of a gasoline-powered V8 sports sedan, he said. …
Silicon Valley money is backing an array of green-car projects that include little-known upstart companies such as Aptera Motors Inc. and Phoenix Motorcars Inc., both southern California companies. Tesla Motors Inc., the high-profile company that is close to shipping a $98,000 electric sports car, has raised $105 million from investors, including VantagePoint Venture Partners, Technology Partners, and Draper Fisher Jurvetson. …
When his company first invested in Tesla two years ago, “I think people were really questioning, ‘Would we ever have electric cars? Would they be viable?”‘ said Stephan Dolezalek, a managing director at VantagePoint Venture Partners. Now, he says, “it’s no longer about will we, it’s about when.” …
Mr. Fisker believes his company is a couple of years ahead of bigger rivals because the design of the car has been finalized. “The car we’re showing in Detroit is not your usual show car; it’s actually a preview of the production car you can buy,” Mr. Fisker said. …
Mr. Fisker wouldn’t say what kind of lithium-ion battery the Karma will use, but he said safety concerns have all been “resolved.”
*Click Here to go to the Fisker web site and see the car — it looks a lot like a Bimmer
Just a thought.Suppose plug ins take off,and we end up with thousands on the road.Do we have the electrical infastructure/power grid to support it?
Does it mean more nuke plants,with nuke waste?Or how about coal fired power plants.Where will all the old batteries go?
I wonder where the Greenies stand on these questions?
mikey :
January 14th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Just a thought.Suppose plug ins take off,and we end up with thousands on the road.Do we have the electrical infastructure/power grid to support it?
The DoE has determined (can’t recall the reference) that the grid can support it because most of them would be plugged in at night when demand is very low.
Mikey, all those questions have been asked and answered many times.
Toyota offers cash for the return of Prius batteries; they get recycled. Can’t say what GM will do, if they ever do face this question.
Mikey: I would defer my worrying until such time, if ever, as there actually is one of these mythical beasts for sale on a dealers showroom floor.
Robert Schwartz nails it, nobody not G.M.not Toyota,not some upstart nobody has brought one to the real market yet.
Ford to thier credit is not even making wild predictions.
When the great moment comes when 20,000 plug ins in 3 time zones all plug in at the same time.Then and only then we might be able to know the real answers to many questions.
Hate to say this, but GM’s playing extreme catch up with their hybrid programs.