PHEV'09 -- Hybrids and EVs are still the Far West!

Montreal -- The world of plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles (EV) is a real Far West! That’s the conclusion we can draw from a roundtable discussion with seven representatives from automakers and OEM companies at the PHEV’09 Conference in Montreal.

Toyota recently announced that 500 units of the Prius PHEV (Plug-in) will be put to the test across the globe, including in Canada.

These industry specialists unanimously predicted the multiplication of "green" cars on the road over the next few years, although each one of them championed a different approach, be it through pure EVs or extended-range plug-in hybrids. As for "regular" hybrids, like the ones we have now, they were not even part of the discussion!

Kicking off the debate, Toyota Canada’s Managing Director, Stephen Beatty, nicely summed up the mass confusion that currently dominates the industry: "Because we are talking about leading-edge advances in the auto sector, the approaches we are going to take will vary widely from speaker to speaker," he said. "And that is a good thing, because the more options you put in the marketplace, the better is the overall possibility that one of us is going to get it right! And that’s how real progress is made. Different players propose different solutions. They take them to market and ultimately our customers decide which one best meets their needs."

Focusing on EV range
Granted, Mr. Beatty had to convince many skeptics. After all, the widely-publicized Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid Concept, introduced earlier this month at the Frankfurt Auto Show, does not offer a particularly impressive range in full electric mode.

"Our Prius PHEV will have a range of about 20 kilometres on electric power, and it will be capable of highway speeds in EV mode," he claimed. "We know it’s possible to double or even triple that by specifying a larger battery, but our research on driving habits tells us that in typical daily driving, most people’s trips are within that range."

However, just minutes earlier, Philip Petsinis, Manager - Government Relations at GM Canada, had made a strong case for another EV that is creating quite a buzz among consumers: the Chevrolet Volt.

In optimum conditions, the Chevy Volt could travel up to 65 kilometres before the combustion engine has to step in.