Why doesn't Toyota endorse the Plug-in? The shocking story is here:
http://www.evworld.com/blogs/index.cfm?page=blogentry&authorid=12&blogid=
83&archive=1
or
http://tinyurl.com/d8493
Exerpt:
Panasonic is the exclusive manufacturer of the batteries used in the
Prius, Highlander Hybrid and Lexus RX400h hybrids. Whalen is suggesting
that the reason Toyota isn't interested in building plug-in hybrids
(PHEVs) isn't because they don't want to. It's because they can't under
Panasonic's license agreement with Cobasys. A plug-in hybrid that has a
20 to 60 miles of electric-only range would require a battery pack much
larger than the 10 amp hour restriction of the license.
Whalen asserts that Panasonic does, in fact, have a 95Ah battery that
could be used in plug-in hybrids, but that it has mysteriously
disappeared from Panasonic's online catalog. He believes the reason has
to do with the $30 million judgment against Panasonic and Toyota for
patent infringement.
This is also why Toyota stopped making the RAV4 EV. It too required a
battery pack much larger than the 10Ah limitation of the Cobasys
license.
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