Michael d’Estries blogged on Groovy Green today about Toyota’s President Katsuaki Watanabe announcing that Toyota will have a plug-in hybrid vehicle by 2010. It’s a quick read – to get the back story on this headliner. In essence, Toyota now is promising to have a vehicle to challenge GM’s Volt.
Although it’s really good to see that car manufacturer’s are looking to become greener – is it really only to sell to a niche clientele? There is no doubt that conservation and becoming more Green has recently gather a lot more traction (or at least coverage) than I can remember. However, there are still large portions of the US that still don’t do simple things like recycle – why would they buy a Green car?
2010 model year is quite some time away – maybe not in car development cycles (I wouldn’t know — no experience in that industry.) Will this current trend of environmentally consciousness continue? I can only hope so, but Americans tend to have short attention spans. Only time will tell.
The other comment I have on this subject is that let’s not get too excited here. We are only talking about two vehicles out of dozens and dozens that these two companies, Toyota and GM, have in their inventory. If these leaders of industry are to do something bold – show us a plan of converting a large percentage of their inventories to Green technologies. Show us plans that will show commitment to doing what is right for the environment and not just what will sell today.
-JT