Toyota has decided to delay the launches of new high-mileage hybrids with lithium-ion battery technology for a year or two because of potential safety problems. The batteries Toyota is trying to
develop use particles of lithium cobalt oxide. Such batteries have shown a tendency to overheat, catch fire or even explode.
Until recently, Toyota was preparing to roll out a dozen
new and redesigned hybrids using new lithium-ion battery technology in the U.S. between 2008 and 2010. Its hybrids now use nickel-metal-hydride batteries.
The rollout--critical to
Toyota's goal of selling 600,000 hybrids a year in the U.S. by early next decade, up from nearly 200,000 last year--is on hold, according to Toyota executives knowledgeable about the company's
hybrid-product plans for the U.S. market. The slowdown could offer General Motors Corp. and other rivals a chance to narrow the gap in the race to define future clean-vehicle technology.
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