Toyota lays down hybrid gauntlet
Pivotal battle with GM on horizon; Toyota says it will beat CAFE deadlines
Mark Rechtin
Automotive News
January 14, 2008 - 12:01 am ET
UPDATED: 1/14/08 9:45 a.m. EST
DETROIT - In an escalating war of green-fuel rhetoric, Toyota Motor CEO Katsuaki Watanabe laid forth several bold moves for the automaker in the next several years.
In a speech delivered here Sunday evening, Watanabe proclaimed that Toyota will:
-- Deliver lithium-ion hybrid vehicles to demonstration fleets in 2010. These vehicles include plug-in hybrids that already have been under development. Toyota, in fact, already has two plug-in prototype vehicles in demonstration tests with the University of California, but they have lower-tech nickel-metal-hydride battery packs.
-- Unveil new hybrid models for the Toyota and Lexus brands at the 2009 Detroit auto show. These will be production vehicles in addition to the Prius, and will be offered only with hybrid powertrains.
ENLARGE Sales of the Toyota Prius climbed 70 percent in 2007. Now Toyota wants to introduce more hybrid-only models.
-- Increase investment in cellulosic ethanol derived from wood waste, through a Toyota affiliated company.
-- Launch clean-diesel V-8 versions of the Tundra pickup and Sequoia SUV within the next 24 months. For Artic -- Expand the Panasonic joint-venture battery factory, adding an assembly line dedicated to automotive battery applications. The plant also will see an expansion of the Prius battery pack assembly line, from 500,000 units to 600,000 units.
-- Sell 1 million hybrid-powered vehicles by 2011 or 2012.
-- Meet the CAFE standard of a 35 mpg vehicle fleet " well in advance" of the 2020 regulation's start. " We will not wait until the deadline to comply" with the regulations, Watanabe said.
Watanabe added that the 2010 deadline for a lithium-ion plug-in hybrid is the latest he wants to see the vehicle reach demonstration fleets.
" I have asked my engineers to come up with plug-in hybrid not at end of 2010, but earlier than that," Watanabe said.
In a subsequent interview Monday morning, Watanabe cautioned against assuming that lithium-ion battery performance is scalable.
" As of today in the lab, the small volume of lithium-ion we have already developed is closer to the level we are satisfied with, but that is only in small quality. There is a huge difference between small volume and mass production of lithium-ion," Watanabe said.
Added Masatami Takimoto, Toyota executive vice president in charge of r&d and powertrain: " It is most difficult related to mass production, whether stable performance is assured. Unless you have a plant that can produce a large quantity of lithium-ion batteries, we cannot verify if we have good tech or not."
These comments could be interpreted as a direct shot at General Motors recent alliance with small-time battery maker A123 Systems of Watertown, Mass. GM is relying on A123 to deliver the lithium-ion technology for its Chevrolet Volt, but A123 has yet to develop a mass production assembly line.
Toyota's plant expansion with Panasonic EV Energy in Japan will include a separate assembly line for lithium-ion only batteries. That will be in addition to an expansion of the Prius battery pack line, from 500,000 units to 600,000 units.
Watanabe outlined these advances in rough form, but well-placed Toyota sources advanced his general remarks with specifics. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity, so as not to upstage Watanabe's announcement.
Although General Motors has announced similar targets for lithium-ion and cellulosic ethanol technologies, it is doing the research through small or start-up companies that are not connected to GM. Watanabe said
Toyota will do the r&d in-house, which he said would be " faster and more efficient." (and propriatary 'n licence-able)