Report: In 2020, all cars will be hybrids, Toyota think so too
In the future, we'll eat all our meals from toothpaste tubes, everyone will be beautiful and healthy, and we won't need cars, what with the proliferation of nuclear-powered jet packs. Prediction is such thorny business, though Toyota isn't making such a fantastical claim by suggesting that each of its vehicles will have a hybrid option available by 2020. Wired's blog seems to agree that by 2020, hybrids will have proliferated like rabbits, and we'll be awash in electron propulsion systems.
We still feel a little cheated that eight years into the 21st century, we still don't have all those things promised to us fifty years ago, but at least automakers are hard at work pushing alternative systems toward viability. Justin Ward, a manager at the Toyota Technical Center overseeing advanced powertrain programs, told a Management Briefing Seminar in Traverse city that work continues on fuel cells to overcome challenges like climate extremes and range. Battery technology, too, will continue to advance, making the current Hybrid Synergy Drive even more efficient. Toyota is still holding off on diesels, and plug-ins present some issues when you consider where that electricity is generated, so it's looking like Toyota will continue to develop its fuel cell technology for the long term and bolster its hybrid offerings in the near future.
[Source: Auto News - sub req. Photo: itd.idaho.gov]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Todd 4:42PM (8/15/2008)
Sounds great - infers Exxon/Mobile will be out of business by the same date...all the better!
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Yar 4:43PM (8/15/2008)
HA! Good one...
Seriously, they aren't going anywhere, ever, no matter what.
MUSASHI66 5:45PM (8/15/2008)
They will just buy battery plants, or power plants..
stretchsje 5:54PM (8/15/2008)
Right. Cause we don't need plastic. You do realize how much we make from oil, right?
And that if you take the government subsidies out of hybrids, which our country can't afford, that they make no fiscal sense?
Oil is here to stay, and it's not a bad thing.
Quattroporte 4:54PM (8/15/2008)
I guess they don't watch Top Gear. A lot of work needs to be done to the battery manufacturing process first before every car on sale is a hybrid (which I hope never happens).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXPCckjTMVg
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Temple 5:44PM (8/15/2008)
Seriously, TopGear is great entertainment but they are talking out of their ass regarding the environmental impact of NiMH batteries in the Prius. Especially being that NiMH batteries don't use toxic cadmium and very vast majority of industrial nickel is recycled. Beyond that close to a 90% of all automotive batteries (hybrid or not) are recycled.
The Talking Hamburger 12:06PM (8/16/2008)
You can't be serious. Watching "Top Gear" for serious discussions on automotive technology is like watching "Monk" for the latest advances in private investigation.
It's an entertainment show.
Kumail 4:55PM (8/15/2008)
i expect us to get off petroleum by then. not only electricity but other stuff like natural gas.
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71cuda 5:13PM (8/15/2008)
In 12 years? I admire your optimism, but I think you'd lose that bet.
MM 5:21PM (8/15/2008)
I have to disagree with the idea of "All Hybrids by 2020" Look at all the R &D BMW and GM is doing with Fuel Cells. Hydrogen is still a far more economical way to go long term plus it still allows for Big Oil to control us.
Yar 5:22PM (8/15/2008)
By 2020? Not a chance.
Vink 4:59PM (8/15/2008)
HOLY CRAP! Is that a siamese twin(s)?
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Dustin 4:59PM (8/15/2008)
Isn't there a difference between having hybrid options and "all cars will be hybrids."?
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Vink 5:01PM (8/15/2008)
Seriously, I think that is a siamese twin kid. So creepy that I haven't even read the post yet.
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notYou 5:37PM (8/15/2008)
Son: "Daddy, what's a Prius?"
Father: "It's what a weenie goes in."
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bruno 5:49PM (8/15/2008)
"Toyota think so too".
Did you use a translation program to come up with that?
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whofan 5:43PM (8/15/2008)
In the year 2525!
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CarbonBlack 8:02PM (8/15/2008)
The future is FUGLY ;-(
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Lad 8:28PM (8/15/2008)
It will be Nissan/Renault that lead us into long range BEVs and not GM or Toyota. GM and Toyota are following the script provided by their lobbyist, The AAM. Nissan is not a member and is truly competing in the market, not following scripted time lines.
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j_diesel 9:15PM (8/15/2008)
i'm sad to hear toyota continues to shun modern diesel power in north america. with a major stake of hino trucks owned by toyota they have a huge resource to draw on.
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