This one didn’t make it to the L.A. show—perhaps because Toyota USA doesn’t sell the iQ there yet. Still, Toyota’s microcar seems to be the perfect candidate for electrification. Its small size and space-efficient layout means less mass for the motor to move around, and its character as a city car isn’t out of step with the expected range of an electric system.
On the outside, the iQ EV looks even funkier than its gasoline counterpart, with a distinctly robotlike face. The iQ EV will go on sale in the USA in 2012, with Europe, Japan, and China to follow—maybe. The iQ EV is part of Toyota’s initiative to push battery technology further, from the current state-of-the-art lithium-ion to solid state batteries or metal-air batteries, which can achieve higher energy density than lithium-ion.
Toyota also announced that it will be ready to sell or lease a hydrogen fuel cell sedan “from around 2015.”
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