Toyota at Work on Plug-in Hybrid; Open to Partnering on Batteries
02 March 2007
Reuters. The president of Toyota North American operations confirmed again that the company is working on developing a plug-in hybrid vehicle and said that the company is open to joining with other automakers in battery development.
In June 2006, President Katsuaki Watanabe said the company was advancing its research and development of plug-in hybrid vehicles. (Earlier post.) In July 2006, Press affirmed that Toyota was pursuing a plug-in.
“We are doing consumer research right now as well as product development,” Toyota North America President Jim Press told Reuters in an interview, when asked about plug-in hybrid development.
Press added the biggest challenge would be developing the next-generation battery, which Toyota is now working on internally. “We would be quite open to any kind of sharing,” Press said of a possible alliance on battery development with other automakers.
I wonder if Toshiba will unveil a consumer version of their nanotech Li-ion battery. It was slated for FY2006, but it is already March, and the fiscal year is almost up.
Posted by: allen_xl_Z | 02 March 2007 at 01:26 PM
President Katsuaki Watanabe:
Have you spoken to Altair Nano yet??
Posted by: gr | 03 March 2007 at 01:14 PM
I would be happy to trade my Valence stock in to Toyta shares
Posted by: Ray | 03 March 2007 at 06:45 PM
Batteries, batteries, batteries. I've been hearing about the big battery breakthrough, which is supposedly just around the corner, for over 40 years.
With enough subsidies, (ie, money out of my pocket) they sometimes can create a market big enough to sell a few, but the cost always seems to be prohibitive for real market conditions.
Energy Guru
www.energy-guru.blogspot.com
Posted by: David Moreland | 15 April 2007 at 01:13 PM