While General Motors and Nissan will both introduce plug-in cars next year, and Ford will follow in 2011, Toyota does not plan to bring an all-electric car to market until 2012. Yesterday, The New York Times declared, “Toyota has fallen behind in the race for the all-electric car.” San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, an electric car advocate, said earlier this year that Prius-style hybrids are “yesterday’s technology.” And Toyota competitors are touting plug-in cars they claim will get the equivalent of 200 or 300 miles to the gallon—putting the Prius’s 50 mpg to shame.

Earlier this year, Toyota announced plans to launch an urban commuter pure-electric car by 2012, a year or two behind its competition. The company showed the Toyota FT-EV - with a driving range of 50 miles, at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, but has not confirmed the design, market or price of its upcoming electric car.

One might expect this criticism to spark Toyota to accelerate its plans for electric cars or a plug-in hybrid. But Toyota’s planners are showing more steely concentration than a Buckingham Palace guard taunted by tourists.

“Our hair is never on fire. We’re not looking around at the latest PR articles, and saying oh my gosh, we have to change our plans because somebody said this or that,” explained Doug Coleman, US-based Prius product manager at Toyota. “We’re pacing ourselves in a way that we think that we can be competitive in a few years time for a market that makes sense for both us and the customer.” Jana Hartline, Toyota’s environmental communication manager, added, “Our outlook has never been to be the first to market. We want to be the best to market.”

While GM, Ford, and Nissan—and newcomers like Tesla, Fisker, and Coda—busily generate buzz for their grid-connected vehicles, Toyota has been nearly silent about electric cars. In an exclusive interview with HybridCars.com, we asked Coleman and Hartline to explain Toyota’s position on plug-in hybrids and electric cars.

Turn Down the Noise

To understand Toyota’s approach to plug-in cars, imagine that Toyota’s product planners are listening to three radio broadcasts at the same time. The first program blasts a frenzied chorus of voices from the automotive press, political circles, electric car and clean energy enthusiast groups, and the blogosphere—clamoring for electric cars NOW. This broadcast is the loudest, but Toyota mutters and hits mute (much like you and I would were we listening to Terry Jacks singing “Seasons in the Sun,” circa 1973).

“It’s very easy to construct a story that says Toyota is falling behind by looking for people who are advocates for a certain technology,” said Coleman. “We’re listening to all perspectives, but we’re making our own judgments based upon our own data and our own forecasts.” Depending on your view, Toyota is either turning a deaf ear to early influencers, or putting the pressure of an unrepresentative group in proper perspective. “In terms of the overall population—300 million people in the US—there’s a very small portion of the population that wants to leapfrog [to electric cars] and says hybrid is yesterday’s technology,” said Coleman.

The Original Post is Located Here: Toyota Explains Its Position on Electric Cars

General Motors made a big splash this month when it announced its new electric vehicle, the Chevy Volt, will go an astounding 230 miles per gallon (more than 97 kilometers per liter).

Company CEO Fritz Henderson believes the new line of gas-electric hybrids is the company’s ticket back to profitability.

“A car that gets triple digit fuel economy, we believe, can and will be, a game changer for us,” said Henderson.

Now in production, the Chevy Volt is expected to launch in 2010. Industry analyst Rebecca Lindland says there’s a lot riding on the new car.”

“It is very important that it be a homerun for them because they have put a lot of their reputation into this vehicle,” said Rebecca Lindland.

But GM will have plenty of competition. Nissan is set to unveil its new, all-electric Leaf next year, and Honda is expected to roll out a new hybrid gas-electric called Insight.

Although they can’t compete with the Volt’s fuel efficiency, the price tag – between $10,000 to $15,000 less – could win converts.

And there’s also homegrown competition.

Coda, a new company based in Colorado, is promoting a new vehicle that can maintain speeds of 130 kilometers per hour for more than 160 kilometers without using gasoline.

The company has received $45 million in stimulus funds to jump start production.

Colorado Governor Bill Ritter was among the first to test drive the prototype.

“This is the first Colorado company the Department of Energy has provided loan guarantee money,” said Bill Ritter. “It means they believe in the concept.”

Company officials hope to put 20,000 of the battery-powered cars into production this year.

At about $35,000 apiece, Governor Ritter says the Coda produces no emissions and takes only six hours to charge.

“You take that car and it goes to someone’s garage,” he said. “That person plugs it in, their energy’s delivered to their home through solar or wind or geothermal, and there’s zero emissions as part of operating that vehicle.”

But with so many fuel-efficient vehicles vying for attention, analysts say green vehicles are just part of the solution for the ailing auto industry.

After the worst sales slump in decades, General Motors is targeting another emerging market with plans to build a compact car that will sell for about $4,000.

No word yet if the low-cost vehicles will be sold in the U.S.

By Mil Arcega VAONews.com

The Original Post is Located Here: Competition Heats Up for Electric Vehicles