and unlike GMs vaporware there's every chance Toyota will deliver!

Anybody from Europe got a used 2000 Lupo 3L for sale ?

a 100MPG 4 places car would be nice

weee While GM's product is a wait and see 7 miles isn't much of an all electric range. The Prius drive train limits what you can do in all electric mode. To do much better will require much R and D on Toyota's part.

I don't think that the Volt will be vapor because GM can't afford not to do it now. Also they need a high millage offset for CAFE. IMHO

how about building a plug in ultra clean burn deisel hybrid with ultra capacitors for extra passing & merging performance. all required would be a 1.8cc, 4 cylinder, turbo diesel rated at around 90 hp & 200 fp of torque. that is twice the torque of a 2.4cc gasoline version. add a cvt & you have serious performance & fuel economy close to 100 mpg without plug in, 150+ mpg with plug in technology. the technology already exists by just using off the self hardware.

GM has already announced that the Saturn VUE will be available with as a plug-in, full-hybrid in two years, so even if the Volt is delayed, Toyota still may not beat GM to market.

I really don't like the direction Toyota is going in. I've read in a few auto magazines that Toyota will soon stop offering their conventional models as hybrids and only offer a few variations of the Prius. Not liking that.

Ross, as someone who follows the auto industry I can tell you the reason why Toyota is moving away from offering coventional models as hybrids. Treehuggers your not going to like this but here it is. Many people have been buying hybrids for the statement that they make. Sales of hybrid versions of conventional models have been disappointing compaired to the Prius. Higher fuel prices might change this but for now hybrid buyers want to project that green image. Honda is going to be releasing a line of dedicated hybrid models since they have found that hybrid versions of conventional models don't sell as well and give them that hybrid halo effect. Also they found that the quirky 2 seat hybrid Insight didn't sell so great and so the first hybrid sold in NA is no more.

Now I'm not hating on hybrids, kinda hard to do with gas going for $3.26 or more a gallon and climate change a real factor it is needed tech. I hope that Toyota will keep open the possibility of hybridizing it's conventional models if consumer demand calls for it. GM is forging ahead with hybrid versions of conventional models as are other companies and if the whim of the consumer says OK we want high mpg cars and don't care if people know I drive a hybrid then the dollars spent making a unique car for hybridization will be partially wasted on Honda's and Toyota's part.

I read too many autoblogs :-)

Please note that the 7-miles is NOT for the vehicle they are planning to build, but the mileage for the converted Prius the reporter tested when he was writing the article, that ran with the conventional nickel batteries as opposed to the lithium ones they will have for the planned plug-in.

In other words, the 7 miles is just for your standard Prius design + a single extra conventional battery that can be charged, not the new car Toyota is still designing.

Will these cars qualify for a new hybrid tax credit?

Tim, Ross has a point. Has it occurred to you that Toyota has not done well with conventional vehicle hybrid versions because they went for power rather than mileage so the perceived "hybridness" was insufficient? Those models pleased no one because they attempted to please everyone, while being costly. The Lexus is the prime example.

Likewise, the Insight was not a practical car for most people.

It's not rocket science. It's the value proposition. The Prius delivered, the others not so much. If a hybrid doesn't get at least 30% higher mileage than a conventional equivalent, there is no point to it and Toyota should not have expected otherwise.

Sadly, I think if you look at the "total cost of owning a vehicle numbers" a Toyota Yaris is the best choice. Granted this is from a financial standpoint, so the extra mileage of the Prius doesn't counter the extra cost.

I would love a plug in hybrid if:
1) the AC and heat could work in electric only mode and not need to turn on the engine
and maybe if
2) the engine could be removed to reduce weight and allow extra batteries to be installed.

I think 1 is likely but not highly likely, and 2 is wishful thinking!

really people, no one cares what you think... the good designs will be trashed because they will be too edgy... plug in vehicles will be slated for 2010, but be delayed until 2020, toyota is going to merge with honda by 2015... BP is going to merge with EXXON-MOBIL and we are ALL GOING TO DIE WHEN PEAK OIL HITS and CHAOS ensues... read about it on my site under peak oil and learn something for once.

I am sorry, but I think it is a grave mistake for Toyota --or any car manufacturer-- to start building and selling so many PHEVs instead of pure EVs.

If Toyota is going to adopt lithium ion techology, why not simply put it into a resurrected RAV4-EV, giving it better range than ever? Consumers would line up to buy them, believe me! First generation used RAV4-EVs are selling for nearly twice their original price on eBay, so it is obvious that the customer demand for said vehicle is huge --and growing every day.

Sure, invest in PHs for a few of your "workhorse" vehicles, but by all means Toyota should dust off the assembly lines for EV vehicles as well. They already have the technology, and in a tried-and-true platform. And they are no longer handcuffed by Chevron's control of NiMH, so why not get back to making EVs that people truly love? Otherwise, Subaru and Mitsubishi will undercut them in as little as 2 to 3 years.

Well plugging in isn't the only craze coming out of the auto show this year. Toyota announced they have shades of green other than the Prius and hybrid technology and will introduce a clean diesel engine in their Tundra pick up and Sequoia vehicles in the near future. And Toyota is not the only one -- new clean diesel Acura and Honda models are destined for US in 09 and 2010. Audi, BMW, VW and others made similiar announcements.

All in all there were 13 model announcements covering half a dozen vehicle segments by 12 manufacturers, along with 4 concept vehicles.

THe reality of hybrids does not come close to the fantasy. How long will we continue tohear about 100 mpg's and more with out ever actually being delivered? I wish just one car company (preferably an American one)would have the balls to take the technology that is already out there and start mass producing 100 mpg vehicles. WHich ever company decides to finally deliver this will have my business for life.