Automotive industry is going through a critical period in this economic downturn and high fuel consumption cars like Hummer are already a part of history. The research has been going on for more than two decades to find an alternative of fuel and now top manufacturers like Toyota, Nissan and GM may have reached a conclusion but there is a difference in their strategies.
Nissan and GM announced their electric cars called Leaf and Volt respectively and intend to start production of these cars from the start of 2011. But Toyota has other plans and wants to stick to its hybrid technology. Though Toyota came up with electric version of its well known RAV4 at Los Angeles motor show but has no plans to go for mass production. The manufacturer only plans to make 35 test versions of this vehicle that will be available to consumers by 2012.
GM is marketing its Volt as a fully electric car and plans to sell 10,000 units of it in 2011. The CEO said that by 2015 the company will be selling around 820,000 units of electric cars in a year. Toyota on the other hand plans to sell 990,000 units of its hybrid cars in 2015 relying on sales projections.
Experts are of the view that manufacturers are going for a mix of technology like electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid. Volt is not actually an electric car as it can only do 40 miles on the battery and then it can be run on gasoline. But plug-in hybrids consume less gasoline compared to conventional hybrids. Moreover, Volt and Leaf are only tested in the labs and nobody really knows how their Li-ion batteries will perform on the road. Toyota’s approach to hybrid cars can prove out to be positive and the company may reduce its R&D cost with mass production.