Talk about doing a 180. After saying it can't be done and GM is wasting time, they now say that a plug-in Li-ion hybrid is in the plans.

From Autoblog.com

 

Either everyone is going down in proverbial flames or Toyota is going to find a way to beat the Volt to market and one up GM's big push into the limelight of public consciousness.

 

I don't recall Toyota ever saying that it can't be done, but David Hermance was saying that it'd be "the middle of next decade" before lithium-ion technology would be viable. Competition is good for making things happen more quickly, though

 

Wasn't it Honda that said that?

 

"Mid next decade" was Toyota's official line as of fall 2006.

It'll be interesting to see if the Vue Green Line beats Toyota to the market, as that plug-in is also supposed to be carrying a lithium-ion pack (I believe it's from Johnson Controls/Saft).

 

What I meant was, wasn't it Honda that said lithium-ion wasn't viable a few months ago?

 

Not only to the market but by 2010!! Listening to the news about the Volt I think Toyota will beat GM to the market despite the head start.
THe Challenger beats the Camaro, now Toyota beating the Volt despite 2 big head starts. GM really needs to figure out a faster release process.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/14/bu...4cnd-plug.html

 

I just got back from the Saturn press conference here in Detroit, and GM is shooting to get the 2 Mode Vue Plug-in into showrooms by 2010. It looks like we have a race on our hands...

 

will it go more than 7 miles on just the batteries?

 

10 miles is what is being claimed; that's from a 90 kilogram 70 liter lith-ion pack. Extending the range beyond this by simply adding battery capacity becomes problematic from a volumetric/packaging standpoint, so decreasing the size, weight, and aerodynamic resistance of the vehicle becomes rather important. The Vue ain't exactly the optimum configuration for efficiency.

 

Well neither the challenger nor Toyota Li-ion are ground up cars like the Camaro and the Volt.

 

And that's the advantage that GM yielded to its competition by failing to invest into its passenger cars until recently.

 

I'm sure that' lighting a number of fires in certain places... The next year or so should be interesting.

 

If Toyota gets this car to showrooms before GM all that hyping of the Volt will be egg on the faces..

 

To who, GM?
If so, I really don't think it will...I'm sorry, but 7 whole miles on a battery is not very impressive to me at all. The Volt is designed to potentially be an electric-only vehicle for it's entire lifespan (depending on where/how you drive)....What Toyota is doing, is modifying one of it's existing cars (as I understand it) to accomodate being plugged in. They're probably relying on their current PR to flaunt this as better than the Volt....it's not.

GM will win this race. You'll see. When a vehicle is designed to be plugged in, and used in primarily that way from the ground up - chances are it's going to be better than a modified version of an existing Hybrid.

grrr, Company 'T'....