Overview

At the time of writing, the automotive industry is awakening to the fact that indeed, hybrid electric vehicles are one answer to the world's need for lower polluting and more fuel efficient personal transportation. Studies have been done that show if gasoline electric hybrids were introduced into the market starting today and reaching full penetration in ten years, and estimating that 40% of the oil consumption is used for transportation, then it would be equivalent to doubling the annual rate of new oil fields brought on line. ^[1] In North America transportation is 97% dependent on petroleum, primarily gasoline and diesel fuels and even more to the point, transportation consumer 67% of total petroleum usage. There are now only 130 000 gasoline electric hybrids on the streets that are being used for personal transportation. All the major automotive manufacturers have announced plans to introduce hybrid propulsion systems into their products. Some manufacturers see hybrid vehicles as supplementary actions or bridging actions leading to an eventual fuel cell and hydrogen driven economy. More visionary companies see hybrid vehicles as viable long term environmental solutions during the period when internal-combustion engines (ICEs) evolve to cleaner and more efficient power plants. Today, Toyota Motor Company is a member of the visionary camp and clearly the leader in hybrid technology. Toyota Motor Co. has announced that by CY2005 they will have an annual production rate of 300 000 hybrids per year. Of the approximately 55M vehicles sold each year globally, this is a...