The Wall Street Journal is reporting today that Toyota will delay the next generation Prius from late 2008 to sometime in 2009. And that it will probably not have a hybrid with lithium batteries until 2010. Sorry I don't have a link as it requires a subscription online but here is the begining A Hybrid Delay for Toyota Word Count: 724 Toyota Motor Corp., maker of the gas-electric Prius, has decided to delay by as long as two years the launches of new high-mileage hybrids using lithium-ion battery technology. The slowdown could offer General Motors Corp. and other rivals a chance to close the gap in the race to define future clean-vehicle technology. Until recently, Toyota was preparing to unleash an aggressive hybrid-product blitz, rolling out a dozen new and redesigned hybrids using new lithium-ion battery technology in the U.S. between 2008 and 2010. Its current hybrids use nickel-metal-hydride batteries. But problems with the lithium-ion technology have forced Toyota to back ...
Article translated out of suit-speak: Toyota, one of the world leaders at this hybrid stuff, decided to hold off on new battery technology because it doesn't work yet. We don't know why that should be allowed to interfere with a perfectly good sales campaign, but it is. If Toyota holds still long enough our boys could catch up with them, maybe?
