Toyota says hybrids will be the best 'green' car for some time

A Toyota executive said Thursday a battery breakthrough is needed for electric vehicles to become mainstream, and hybrids will remain the best “green” car choice for some time.

His comments came just hours after the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said Toyota’s Prius hybrid was the No. 1 selling vehicle in Japan for May, clinching the top spot for the first time — even though the latest model had been on sale for only half the month.
Toyota Executive Vice President Masatami Takimoto said the hybrid system, like the one in the Prius, is the “most important of our energy-saving technologies,” and reiterated that his company plans to have a hybrid version of its entire lineup of products by 2020.

Despite various initiatives to promote electric vehicles around the world, the battery needed to power them still needs drastic improvement and can now offer only short-distance urban commuting, Takimoto told reporters at the automaker’s headquarters in Toyota City in central Japan.

Other automakers, like Nissan, while working on hybrids, have been more bullish about electric vehicles.

USA Today