Next-gen Toyota Prius delayed?

Wall Street Journal reported that safety concerns were driving Toyota Motor Corp. to delay the launch of it’s next-gen hybrids that use lithium-ion battery technology in its hybrid cars instead of the currently used Nickel Metal Hydride batteries. The journal says that the Lithium-ion batteries Toyota is developing use particles of lithium cobalt oxide that have shown a tendency to overheat, catch fire or explode in some cases such as in accidents. The journal also claims that Toyota had planned to use the lithium-ion batteries in a re-designed Prius starting 2008. The first Toyota hybrids to use the lithium-ion batteries will likely not come out until 2011, the journal goes on to say.

Lithium-ion batteries are the same type of batteries that are used in laptops and though they hold the charge longer, they produce a lot of heat.

In response to the WSJ article, Irv Miller, VP of Communications at Toyota had this to say on his blog:

“We’ve been very interested to note stories in The Wall Street Journal over the past couple of days purporting that the introduction of a next-generation Prius has been delayed because of the slow pace of development of lithium-ion batteries.

The Journal also claims that those same concerns have postponed the introduction of the use of our Hybrid Synergy Drive, using those batteries, in other Toyota vehicle lines such as the Sequoia and the Tundra.

We’re bemused by the Journal’s contention that the timing for the next generation of the Prius has somehow been pushed back, for whatever reason.”

Irv goes on to say that Toyota has never announced any dates for delivery of next-gen hybrid cars with lithium-ion batteries. He also states that Toyota has always acknowledged that there are several challenges that need to be overcome in lithium-ion batteries, including safety, reliability, cost, packaging, performance, etc. Irv says that prime-time readiness for lithium-ion will come, but there is no way to tell when all breakthroughs will come together to make it viable.

The current nickel metal hydride batteries used in all Toyota hybrid synergy drive systems are very safe, reliable and last over 150,000 miles. So, until the lithium-ion batteries can compete with that, Toyota will continue to use nickel metal hydride batteries.