A friend of mine on the Exec level of Toyota recently retired. He informed me that while Toyota will spend a lot on hybrid/electric car production. They do not feel that electric is the long term future, as there are a lot of draw backs which was mentioned in the posts above. Plus the fact that most electrical grids can only handle a certain amount of electric cars.
They are working with other companies to produce hydrogen, at a much lower cost. If that can be accomplished, they feel, that this will be the long term future. Right now, hydrogen cost is the biggest draw back. If this can be achieved, Toyota would most likely start entering in joint ventures and place hydrogen stations in strategic locations outside the state of California. Currently, California is the only state with strategic hydrogen filling stations.
Can you imagine the largest car/hydrogen car manufacturer also being invested in it's filling stations?
