Toyota is to broaden a planned roll-out of battery-powered vehicles in 2012, as it seeks to protect its lead in a “green car” market that is evolving beyond hybrids, such as its 13-year-old Prius.
The Japanese carmaker said on Thursday it would start selling a fully electric version of its iQ ultra-compact in the US, Europe, Japan and possibly China. It had initially planned a US-only launch for the vehicle, which it first unveiled at the Detroit motor show last year.
Toyota has dominated the small, but fast-growing, market for alternative-fuel cars since it introduced the Prius in 1997.
But the world’s largest carmaker faces competition from rivals such as Nissan and General Motors, both of which have developed cars powered mostly or entirely by rechargeable batteries. Nissan’s forthcoming Leaf hatchback is fully electric, while the Chevrolet Volt, from GM, runs on batteries for 64km (40 miles) before a “range extending” petrol engine kicks in.
“We are starting to see a more diverse range of alternative fuels,” said Takeshi Uchiyamada, Toyota’s head of product development.
In addition to the iQ electric car, which Toyota is aiming at urban commuters, the company is planning to introduce a “plug-in” version of the Prius, also in 2012. Its larger battery, rechargeable from a standard wall socket, will enable it to run on electricity alone for about 20km.
Toyota said it would sell the plug-in for “around Y3m” in Japan. That compares with a price of Y3.65m ($43,657) for the Leaf and Y2.05m for the cheapest version of the current Prius.
Toyota did not announce a sale price for the US, where Nissan is offering the Leaf for $32,780 and GM’s Volt is going for $41,000, before government subsidies.
Toyota said it hoped to sell, at first, 50,000 of the new plug-in cars a year.
In all, the company said it planned to launch 11 new or redesigned Toyota and Lexus hybrids in the next two years. The most efficient model, a subcompact to be based on the Yaris, will have a Japanese fuel-economy rating of 40km/l, Toyota said, slightly better than the 38km/l rating of current generation Prius.
Toyota also plans to introduce a larger passenger vehicle powered by a hydrogen fuel cell in 2015.
Mr Uchiyamada said Toyota believed hybrids would be the most popular alternative to petrol cars for years to come, owing to their long driving range and low prices compared with all-electric and fuel-cell cars.
