Toyota Will Lease 200 PHEV's In Japan By Year's End and 500 Globally

Toyota Motor Company is on track to outfit a fleet of up to 500 plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV's) in Japan, Europe and the United States. The first 200 vehicles will be on the roads of Japan by the end of 2009.

The Toyota Prius has been converted into PHEV's for a number of years now and the conversions have been successful with the costs coming down significantly. One has to wonder why Toyota feels it incumbent upon themselves to delay production and continue wasting time with large scale fleet testing?

From Green Car Congress:

Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) will begin leasing approximately 200 plug-in versions of its third-generation Prius (earlier post) equipped with lithium-ion battery packs in Japan starting at the end of this year. This will be the first time a lithium-ion battery is to be employed in a Toyota vehicle for propulsion.

The leases will be to designated users such as government ministries, local governments and corporations. This brings the initial planned global deployment of early plug-ins—primarily to fleet customers—to approximately 500 units.

TMC will introduce approximately 150 plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in the United States, as well as more than 150 vehicles in Europe, including 100 in France. TMC is also considering introducing plug-in hybrid vehicles in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Germany.

In announcing the Japan lease program, Toyota said that:

TMC believes that, in response to the diversification of energy sources, plug-in hybrid vehicles are currently the most suitable environmentally considerate vehicles for widespread use.

TMC has positioned hybrid technologies as core environmentally considerate vehicle technologies and is using them in the development not only of plug-in hybrid vehicles but also electric vehicles and fuel-cell hybrid vehicles. TMC will continue its efforts to achieve sustainable mobility by developing and putting into practical use these next-generation vehicles, which are hoped to contribute to reducing petroleum consumption, reducing CO₂ emissions and responding to the diversification of energy sources.

Toyota said that the plug-ins will operate as electric vehicles when used for “short distances” and operate as conventional hybrids when used for medium to long-distance trips.

Toyota has been testing an earlier plug-in prototype featuring a large NiMH pack rather than the proposed Li-ion pack, with an electric range of approximately 13 km (8 miles) under the Japan 10-15 cycle (Earlier post.)

The Japan lease program is in collaboration with local governments selected under the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s EV & PHV Towns program, which aims to promote the widespread use of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

The program features an intensive program for the introduction and promotion of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles as well as accelerating the setting up of charging infrastructures and the development of societal awareness and preparedness through the collaboration of the national and local governments, regional businesses and auto manufacturers in Japan.

Action plans are expected to be developed this summer by each participating local government, and a master action plan based on the results of each program is expected to be developed at the end of this fiscal year.