Toyota to Bring Plug-In Prius to U.S. in Late 2009 - Auto Shows

Breathless Prius fans, hark! From high upon Mount Hybrid has come word that the legendary and mythical plug-in version of the Prius hybrid will finally arrive on U.S. streets late this year. Now that we’ve built you up, allow us to tear you down: just 150 will be coming to America from a miserly 500-car global allotment, and all will be placed in the hands of “lease-fleet” customers such as utility companies, universities, and city governments. None will be made available to individual consumers—Larry David and Leo DiCaprio are reportedly heartbroken.

Based on the third-gen 2010 Prius, the plug-in version will use Toyota’s first lithium-ion batteries in place of the workaday model’s nickel-metal hydride units. Nickel batteries, Toyota says, are optimal for use in regular hybrids because of their ability to operate in the narrow band of charge required. Plug-in applications, however, charge harder and deplete farther, so lithium-ions are more appropriate.

Toyota iQ-based FT-EV battery-electric concept headed for NAIAS

Toyota FT-EV Concept

Media days for the Detroit Auto Show begin in the morning, but a steady flow of information continues to pour forth from the automakers... some of it through embargo leaks, and some of it by design. Falling into the latter category is word from Toyota that the automaker will show a battery electric concept vehicle dubbed FT-EV.
Based on the iQ urban runabout, the diminutive city car will take to the stage alongside the 2010 Prius and the Lexus HS250h. According to the Japanese automaker, a production urban vehicle based on the concept is in the cards by 2012, and as many as ten different gas-electrics will be available from the company by "early 2010s." In the meantime, Toyota plans to roll out some 500 plug-in Prius hatchbacks worldwide, with 150 of those earmarked for U.S. fleet clients. Lease-only deliveries of these lithium-ion vehicles will begin late this year. Hit the jump for Toyota's official press release.

Gallery: Detroit 2009: Toyota FT-EV Concept

Detroit NAIAS 2009: Toyota FT-EV Concept unveiled, Toyota confirms electric-car for 2012

• Toyota’s new FT-EV is a beefed-up electric iQ.
• Toyota confirms plans to launch a batter-electric car by 2012.
• FT-EV allows for 50 miles on a single charge.

On the eve of the 2009 Detroit Auto Show press days, Toyota has announced that it will show its FT-EV Concept and has confirmed plans to launch an urban commuter battery-electric vehicle by 2012.

The new FT-EV concept shares its platform with the new iQ urban vehicle that was launched last year at the 2008 Paris Motor Show. Toyota says that the four-passenger FT-EV Concept imagines an urban minicar that can travel up to 50 miles on a single charge. Now, we’re pretty certain that the new urban commuter will be a BEV version of the Toyota iQ when it hits markets in 2012.

For now the Toyota FT-EV is nothing but a radically-designed concept. You can check out a video of the FT-EV in action after the jump.

Toyota FT-EV Concept:

Toyota FT-EV

Toyota revealed at the Detroit Auto Show the FT-EV concept, a preview version of the future urban commuter battery-electric vehicle (BEV) by set to be revealed 2012. The FT-Ev is build on the same platform as the iQ and according to the company will be used for driving up to 50 miles. Toyota did not released any details on the concept's specifications. The iQ and the future BEV will be a key component of Toyota’s sustainable mobility strategy, and the conventional gas-electric (...)

$25,000 electric car set for Australia

An electric car costing only $25,000 could be on sale in Australia within three years.
The world's leading hybrid car maker, Toyota, used the 2009 Detroit motor show to unveil the Toyota FT-EV, a concept car that previews a new battery-electric “urban commuter” vehicle set to go on sale in 2012.
US media is reporting the diminutive Toyota FT-EV electric car could wear an affordable price tag of about US$20,000 (about $25,000).

The FT-EV electric vehicle will see Toyota join the growing number of manufacturers who in the early years of the next decade will offer vehicles that run on electricity.
The FT-EV is based on Toyota’s iQ micro-car that landed in European and Japanese showrooms in 2008, though swaps that car’s 1.0-litre petrol engine for a 45kW electric motor powered by a lithium-ion battery pack.
Toyota says the three-metre-long, four-seater FT-EV has a cruising range of 80km and a targeted top speed of 112km/h.
It takes between 2.5 and 7.5 hours to recharge the Toyota FT-EV electric car, depending on the voltage of the power supply.
Toyota says the FT-EV will broaden its range of alternative-fuel vehicles as the world faces dwindling oil supplies, and will be aimed at city residents who would use the battery-electric car to commute between home and work, or to drive to other forms of public transport such as railway stations.
“Last year’s [2008's] spike in the price of petrol was no anomaly,” says Toyota Motor Sales group vice president, environmental and public affairs, Irv Miller.
“It was a brief glimpse of our future. We must address the inevitability of peak oil [when the world’s oil supply starts a permanent decline] by developing vehicles powered by alternatives to liquid-oil fuel, as well as new concepts, like the iQ, that are lighter in weight and smaller in size. This kind of vehicle, electrified or not, is where our industry must focus its creativity.”
Toyota FT EVToyota FT EVToyota FT EV concept car from 2009 Detroit motor show
Toyota says its petrol-electric hybrid vehicles – such as the third-generation Toyota Prius hybrid car also revealed at the 2009 Detroit motor show – will continue to be at the centre of the company’s long-term sustainable motoring program.
Toyota will introduce 10 new petrol-electric hybrid models by the early 2010s in various markets as it targets one-million hybrid sales per year.
Toyota also used the Detroit show to announce it was fast-forwarding its plug-in hybrid program from 2010 to 2009.
Towards the end of 2009, Toyota will deliver 500 Prius plug-in hybrids to global fleet-lease customers as part of a mass-production feasibility study.
The Prius plug-in hybrid (PHV) is different to the petrol-electric Prius that has become the world’s best-selling hybrid. The Prius PHV can only recharge its lithium-ion battery pack through a power outlet, whereas the current Prius recharges its nickel-metal hydride battery via its 1.5-litre petrol engine.
The FT-EV won’t be the first electric Toyota to go into production. The company sold an all-electric version of the RAV4 softroader in the US between 1997 and 2003.

Toyota FT-EV

Toyota announced today that it will display the Toyota FT-EV concept at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, January 11 – 25, hinting that it might offer an urban all-electric commuter vehicle in the next few years. The FT-EV concept shares its platform with the company’s minicar, the Toyota iQ.
Toyota introduced the gas-version of the iQ in Japan in November 2008, and plans to roll out the minicar to Europe this month. Plans for North America are undetermined. The iQ is larger than the quintessential minicar, the Smart Fortwo, but not by much. Its wheelbase is a little more than five inches longer, and on the whole, the car is only about a foot longer than the Smart—11.4 inches to be exact. The iQ is a four-passenger vehicle while the Smart only carries two.
The electric version on display at the Detroit Auto Show, the Toyota FT-EV concept, offers driving range of 50 miles, according to Toyota.
“Last summer’s four-dollar-a-gallon gasoline was no anomaly. It was a brief glimpse of our future,” said Irv Miller, group vice president of environmental and public affairs at Toyota. The company is expected to dabble with pure electric and smaller vehicles like the iQ, but conventional gas-electric hybrids, like the Prius, are considered Toyota’s long-term core powertrain technology.

Last year, Toyota announced that it planned to sell one million gas-electric hybrids per year sometime during the early 2010s. To accomplish this, Toyota is expected to launch as many as 10 new hybrid models in the next few years. The company has not made any firm commitments to bring an electric car to market.

Who needs a hybrid?

Green is for sale. But who’s buying? Seriously, who needs a hybrid? Without question, fuel-saving technology is essential both for automakers who hope to compete in the next decade and for a nation stricken by energy problems. But if you dig through the sales numbers over the past few months, it’s easy to see that more consumers are asking whether the extra cost of a hybrid-electric car is really worth it.

In December, sales of Toyota’s Prius—the standard bearer of all hybrids—fell by a whopping 45%. In November, sales were off 48%. During those two months, gasoline prices plummeted below $2 a gallon. This proves that America hasn’t turned truly green. More likely, they turned red at the pump back in July when gasoline prices topped $4 a gallon. People fled their suvs and bought smaller cars and hybrids like there was a fuel shortage.
But once gasoline prices fell back to levels that Americans have normally paid, they pulled back on hybrid purchases. Toyota has indefinitely delayed its plans for a Prius plant in Mississippi. Toyota isn’t the only company feeling a pinch. Ford’s Escape hybrid and the competing Saturn Vue hybrid both saw sales sink by more than 40% last month. And the hybrid Civic? Off almost 70%. Ouch.
Jim Lentz, President of Toyota Motor Sales USA, notes that for the year, hybrid sales fell only 12%. That shows better staying power than a car market that fell 18%. His point shouldn’t be ignored. He is also right when he says that in the long run, gasoline prices will rise and hybrids will be a better sell. Plus, he says, 80% of Prius owners trade in for a new one. That means the existing buyers keep coming back.
But annual numbers are padded by the huge fuel-price spike of the first half of the year. Recent months show that when gas prices fall, consumers aren’t buying. This creates a huge dilemma for car companies and policy makers. New fuel economy rules will mandate fuel-saving technology. Carmakers the world over are pushing hybrids and other fuel savers to market. But without a hit to the wallet, Americans still aren’t sold on them. Without a price spike—or a tax on gasoline—carmakers will once again be caught between a policy that demands fuel economy and an American consumer who remains indifferent.

Toyota Safety Connect, Lexus Enform Take Aim At GM OnStar With New Service

Toyota's ready to battle GM's OnStar with it's own on-board telematics program appropriately named Safety Connect and Lexus Enform. Of course GM could have avoided this if they'd let Lexus continue to use OnStar.

Toyota Motor Company has recently announced a new in-car proprietary telematics program named Safety Connect for its Toyota models and Enform with Safety Connect for its Lexus luxury brand. The new safety features will slowly make their production debut in select Toyota and Lexus vehicles over the next year. While sharing many similarities with GM’s OnStar system, the Toyota Safety Connect features four main safety and security features: Roadside Assistance, Emergency Assistance Button (SOS), Automatic Collision Notification (ACN) and Stolen Vehicle Location (SVL). These features are designed to allow ToMoCo’s customers to have a semblance of safety and security while on the road they wouldn't ordinarily get without such new technologies as a cell phone or a CB radio.

The Toyota brand’s Safety Connect uses embedded GPS and cellular signals to signal for help if an airbag has been deployed or a severe rear-end collision has been detected. In a case where the system isn’t activated automatically, an occupant of the vehicle can use the Emergency Assistance Button (SOS) to contact emergency services manually. The SOS button can also be used to contact Roadside Assistance in the event of a break down. If the vehicle is ever stolen, once a police report has been filed, the Stolen Vehicle Location feature may be activated to locate the car – think of it as a factory Lo-Jack system.

ToMoCo’s luxury brand, Lexus, receives all of the standard Safety Connect features and adds a few more conveniences to make up the Lexus Enform service. Additional features include Destination Assist and eDestination. Consider these two services as a personal in-car concierge that can help with directions as well as recommend local restaurants and hot spots. When the driver has made a choice the destination is sent to the vehicle’s navigation system. If the vehicle owner wants to plan the route themselves, the eDestination service is accessible from any PC and when planning is complete, it will send the information to the navigation system. All of these features will be accessible though the Lexus Flexible Voice Interface, a casual-speech voice recognition system, scheduled to debut on the 2010 RX model.

Look for the GM OnStar rivaling Safety Connect and Enform services to debut in select models later this year, each with an included one-year subscription.

PRESS RELEASE

Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Announces Dual-Brand Telematics Programs: Lexus EnformTM and Safety ConnectTM Available in 2009

LAS VEGAS (January 7, 2009) – Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), USA, Inc. today announced that it will launch its proprietary telematics systems in the year to come. The all-new systems will be available on select models with customized versions for both Lexus and Toyota brands.

"We are proud to introduce these services and advance our relationships with our customers by providing them the features they need to feel safer and more secure while on the road," said Jon Bucci, TMS vice president, Advanced Technology Department. "Our primary focus while developing our services was on three key traits: choice, convenience and control. We feel that our new telematics offerings deliver on these attributes, hitting the mark for what our customers have shown us they will be looking for in their next vehicle purchase."

The Toyota brand will introduce Safety Connect on select Toyota models, helping to bring its drivers an added peace of mind. Lexus will introduce Lexus Enform with Safety Connect, a service built on the foundation of valuable safety and security services with the added layer of more convenience-oriented features and specialized advanced technologies.

New Offerings Built on a Solid Heritage of Quality
With characteristic Toyota vision, sights have been set on bringing Toyota's proprietary telematics products to the U.S. for many years.

"Prior to entering the U.S. market full force, Toyota practiced a deliberate approach to product development based on our experience in Japan, in-depth research and relentless product testing in order to both deliver to customers' expectations and produce systems befitting the Toyota name," said Bucci. "Safety Connect and Lexus Enform are the results of several years of due diligence and dedicated teams working in
partnership with our highly experienced providers."

Safety Connect: A Secure Foundation

Available on both Lexus and Toyota brands, Safety Connect is the cornerstone of Toyota's new telematics offerings and will provide fundamental services to help extend confidence to drivers on the road.

"While a portion of the industry appears to be migrating to reliance upon wireless handheld devices to deliver in-vehicle safety, we've followed our engineering insights and Toyota's G-Book and G-Link roots in Japan," said Bucci. "Based on our experience and research, our core safety and security technology is embedded in the vehicle to help ensure reliability and responsiveness."

As the foundation of Toyota's telematics systems and available on select vehicles,
Safety Connect will include the following four safety and security facets:

Automatic Collision Notification (ACN)

Safety Connect's ACN will help drivers receive the necessary response from emergency teams. In the event of either an airbag deployment or a severe rear-end collision; the response center will be automatically notified via embedded cellular technology and GPS. Once the response center agent receives the vehicle ID and the vehicle's location, the agent can speak with the driver to ascertain the level of emergency. If the driver is unable to communicate, the agent automatically treats the call as an emergency. The response center agent then uses the vehicle's GPS location to determine the nearest Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) available to provide emergency support and will offer to stay on the line until emergency assistance arrives.

Stolen Vehicle Location (SVL)

Safety Connect subscribers will be able to rely on an extra level of security in the event that their vehicle is stolen. If this should happen, Safety Connect will assist in tracking the location of the stolen vehicle using the vehicle's GPS. Once a police report has been filed and the owner contacts the Safety Connect call center to report the theft, call center agents will assist local authorities to help recover the vehicle-keeping the owner apprised of the progress.

Emergency Assistance Button (SOS)

All Safety Connect–enabled vehicles will come equipped with an SOS button, with the call center's 24-hour emergency assistance only a press away. When an emergency situation develops, subscribed customers will be able to quickly reach the Safety Connect response center to communicate their emergency. Again using embedded cellular and GPS technology, the agent will assess the situation and dispatch the necessary assistance based on the type of emergency.

Roadside Assistance

When a driver encounters problems on the road, the Safety Connect response center will be available for roadside assistance 24 hours a day via the SOS button. Call center agents will help drivers receive aid for a wide range of needs, such as towing, jump start, flat tire, fuel delivery, etc. With this service, drivers will not need to rely on additional membership organizations for roadside coverage to help them get back on the road.

All Safety Connect calls will be sent directly to Toyota's dedicated, specialized telematics response center operated by ATX Group, a leading provider of global automotive telematics services for over a decade. Drivers can rest even easier with the added level of confidence that comes with having this service as the backbone of Safety Connect's security offerings.

Lexus Enform: Pinnacle of Convenience

Lexus Enform takes Toyota's telematics services to a new level of care with a diverse assortment of offerings ranging from information and convenience capabilities to up-to-the-minute weather reports.
"We specifically steered away from a one-size-fits-all approach," explained Bucci, "recognizing that we have two distinct markets for telematics products and services and catering our offerings to each of our valued customer sets."

The cornerstones of Lexus Enform are two convenience-based services: Destination Assist and eDestination. With these features, Lexus vehicles can become a virtual information tool-giving drivers the ability to send and receive the data they choose and need along the way. Both services also rest on the solid foundation of Toyota's dedicated ATX call center.

Destination Assist

Live-operator assistance with finding destinations will be just the press of a button away with Destination Assist. While either parked or driving, the driver will be able to easily connect to an operator to ask for help finding local points of interest from dining to gas stations, dry cleaners to museums. As an added bonus to Lexus drivers, Zagat's best-in-breed restaurant content will also be available via Destination Assist.
Destination Assist operators will steer drivers to the nearest or preferred destination, giving them either the specific business or address requested or nearby choices if, for example, the call is for a specific type of cuisine but the driver does not know the exact restaurant they would like to visit. Once the driver tells the operator their choice, the destination is sent wirelessly to the vehicle's navigation system.

eDestination

An expedient self-service feature of Lexus Enform is eDestination, which will allow the user to go online, via the Lexus owners' Web site, to select and organize destinations of their choice and then send them wirelessly to their vehicle. From any computer, Lexus Enform-subscribed owners will be able to simply log in to their account and search for destinations by one of three options, point of interest (POI) name, category, or address, in Lexus' POI database-the same nationwide database in the vehicle's navigation system. By entering either a city and state or a Zip code with their search option, they will receive a numbered list of relevant choices all called out on a map screen. The user can then simply select the destination of their choice and send it to a folder-creating a new one or inserting it into one they have already built. When finished making selections and creating folders, the user simply selects "save to vehicle" and their personalized destinations will be available to load into the vehicle's navigation system upon the next start up. Going hand in hand with the quality our drivers have come to expect and rely upon in Lexus vehicles, Lexus Enform drivers will also have easy online access to Zagat-rated restaurants nationwide via eDestination.

eDestination will enable users to build their library of destinations in up to 20 customized folders with up to 10 destinations per folder. This will enable Lexus Enform subscribers to select and send an unprecedented total of 200 personalized destinations to their vehicle. The folder cache will always be present online for users to save or update as they see fit. For example, folders with the addresses of friends, family, or favorite local restaurants can be saved and maintained while new folders can be created for specific occasions-a vacation ("Road Trip to Boston") or business meetings ("LA Biz Travel")-and updated to meet current plans. Wherever Lexus drivers need to go, they will be able to plan trips easily and in advance, and even update from the road, with eDestination.

Flexible Voice Interface

Because Lexus Enform is a navigation-based system, vehicles equipped with navi will automatically include one of Lexus Enform's most functional-and sure to be favorite-systems, the updated voice recognition system currently only available on the MY10 Lexus RX vehicles. This new casual-speech voice recognition system, called voice command, features VoiceBox Technology's award-winning, patented Conversational Voice Search, and allows drivers to speak more flexible, conversational commands for easier access and control.

Voice command software enhances standard voice recognition and functions as a supplementary layer "on top" of the existing voice recognition system, an application not seen before in the automotive world. Without voice command, users must speak commands in a specific order, e.g., "Phone > Dial by Name > Dial Bob." Now this same task can be completed simply by saying, "Call Bob at home." The voice command system also works to control many functions of the audio system, heating and air conditioning, and the navigation system. Commands such as, "Make it cooler," "Let's find XM channel 46," "I want a Japanese restaurant," and "Where's the nearest gas station along my route?" make tasks easier to accomplish, in fewer steps, with more flexible speech, and allow the driver to focus more on the road ahead.

Mobile Audio Casts with Lexus Insider

One thing we know about Lexus drivers is that they appreciate up-to-the-minute information about the world around them. With Lexus Insider, a complimentary service on all Lexus Enform navigation-equipped vehicles, customers will be able to listen to audio broadcasts in their vehicles with the push of a button. A first in the industry, brief
"hot topic" audio programmes, hand selected for our customers, will be sent regularly to vehicles and made available to drivers to enjoy whenever they see fit. Customers who would prefer not to receive Lexus Insider broadcasts will be able to easily opt out of the service. Those customers who do elect to receive them will be able to select whether or not to receive automatic notifications when news is available.

Topics will include vehicle technology insights, with tips on their specific model of Lexus vehicle and its capabilities; updates on Lexus-exclusive regional events; and selections from Lexus magazine lifestyle articles. Additionally, customers will also receive Insider insights into exclusive destinations appealing to Lexus drivers. Lexus drivers alone will benefit from the added convenience of having these broadcast transmissions also include the destination's information provided as a downloadable POI, enabling them to easily save the spot to their navigation.

Because broadcast data transmission to automobiles is necessarily complicated by the unpredictable nature of when, and for how long, vehicles will be powered on, Lexus Insider makes use of innovative technology to optimize delivery. Thus equipped, Lexus Enform vehicles can successfully receive audio casts in spite of disruptions to transmissions-helping to ensure that listeners receive Lexus Insider stories seamlessly and without complications.

XM – Beyond Radio

Lexus Enform vehicles will be factory ready for subscriptions to a variety of innovative XM services. Standard equipment on Lexus vehicles will include available XM satellite radio programming and its available "Best of SIRIUS" content. Additionally, Lexus Enform vehicles will also feature XM NavTraffic® and XM NavWeatherTM services. These XM services will offer three-month trials, after which subscriptions will be required. XM NavTraffic informs the driver of current traffic conditions with real-time traffic displays. When traffic problems are detected, in order to avoid them the navigation system alerts the driver so that the route can be adjusted. XM NavWeather will provide near real-time weather conditions as well as spoken and nav-screen forecasts, both based on official National Weather Service data. Lexus Enform will also provide the platform for XM® Sports and Stocks, a service included with audio programming, which provides in-car personalized updates on customer-selected sports and stocks so drivers can stay connected to their favorite teams and investment data while on the road. Additionally, Lexus Enform's advanced voice command system will be equipped to operate many functions of all XM services, adding a new level of flexibility.

Availability

Safety Connect and Lexus Enform will be delivered on select models beginning in late summer 2009 as embedded, factory-installed hardware that can be activated upon subscription at dealerships. An included one-year trial subscription will be offered for new vehicle purchases. More details on product roll-out will be announced closer to launch.

[via Toyota]

Toyota founder’s grandson to replace CEO by June

Following Toyota’s shock announcement recently that the company is expecting to post a ¥150 billion ($1.7 billion) loss for the year ending March 2009, comes a new report that claims current CEO Katsuaki Watanabe may be replaced by June of this year. The news comes from Japan’s Nikkei daily, which reports that current vice president Akio Toyoda will move into the top spot. Toyoda is the 52 year-old grandson of Toyota's founder Kiichiro Toyoda, and if given the top spot he would be the first member of the family in 14 years to become the company's president.

Segway-Killing Toyota Winglet Enters Production Priced At $3,500

Toyota is putting its sex toy-like Winglet personal transportation device into production, with limited sales beginning this year. For just $3,500 you can look as ridiculous as a Segway owner.

Cars have always been associated with sex — literally in the design of Ferraris and culturally in the importance of back seat mating rituals. It looks like the Winglet, in its attempt to reduce personal transportation to its bare essence, is also dropping any sexual innuendo in favor of barefaced literalness. The Toyota Winglet looks dildo-like.

Just 25 Toyota Winglets are destined for sale in 2009 in a trial run that will include factories, airports and parks. Full scale production is projected to begin in 2010.

The Winglet compares favorably to the Segway not just in its ability to serve as a “personal massager” but in its $3,500 price (Segway: $5,300+) and 22-pound weight (Segway: 105 Lbs +).

Toyota envisions uses ranging from security in public places to speedy inter-office transportation for on-the-go execs. Like the Segway, the Winglet won’t be road-legal in either Japan or the US and most places will ban it from sidewalks, so Toyota forecasts most sales will be to companies with large campuses or to public services with large areas to cover. [MSN Japan via The Scooter Scoop]