Toyota Motor Sales pronounced an expanded dedication to electrical autos on Sat. , divulging plans to turn out an all-electric town automobile by 2012 and a wider fleet of gas-electric hybrids. At the northern US World vehicle Show ( NAIAS ) in Detroit, Toyota displayed a concept car called the FT-EV, a battery-powered four-seat compact vehicle. Even though it’s idea auto, Toyota stated that it will release an “urban commuter” electric auto in 2012.

Based mostly on an existing auto sold in Japan called the iQ, the FT-EV runs wholly on batteries and has a range of approximately fifty miles.

Like many all-electric automobiles planned for release in the following few years, the FT-EV is designed for commutes and short trips, probably as a 2nd auto.

In an announcement, Toyota Motor Sales’ group vice president of environmental and public affairs Irv Miller said that although petrol costs have dipped significantly during the past half year, the car industry should concentrate on fuel-efficiency. “We must address the inevitability of top oil by developing vehicles powered by alternatives to liquid-oil fuel, as well as new ideas, like the iQ, that are lighter in weight and smaller in size. This sort of car, electrified or not, is where our industry must focus its creativity,” he revealed.

A number of automobile firms, including Mitsubishi, Nissan, and Think, plan to bring out little all-electric automobiles in the following 2 years. The commitment of Toyota–maker of the classic Prius hybrid car–adds more validity to the tiny electrical commuter auto class. Still, Toyota said the the gas-electric powertrain of the Prius represents its “core” technology as it may be employed with bigger autos. On Sun. , the company expounded that it’ll move up its formerly narrated plan to check plug-in hybrid autos using lithium-ion batteries. Current Priuses use Nickel-metal hydride technology but most vehicle makers are chasing lithium-ion chemistry for an approaching wave of electric autos. At the end of 2009, it’ll begin testing a fleet of plug-in electrical Priuses using lithium-ion batteries. Of the five hundred, 150 will be supplied to US purchasers for lease.

Toyota’s goal is to sell 1,000,000 gas-electric hybrids a year in the early 2010s. It’ll have 10 new hybrid models in that time, including the third-generation Prius and the Lexus HS250h, both of which it introduced this week in Detroit at the NAIAS.