Toyota this week introduced another potential hybrid car at the Detroit Auto Show, one that could be called the little brother of the Prius.
The concept car is called the FT-CH, and it is among dozens of hybrid, electric and alt-fuel cars on display at the event, formally called the North American International Show.
What’s interesting about Toyota’s unveil were the points brought up in a speech by Jim Lentz, above, president of Torrance-based Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A.
Addressing the crowd during the unveil, he said that in the next few years Toyota will be introducing plug-in hybrids, battery electric vehicles and even hydrogen fuel-cell cars. Then he brought up a subject that many automakers shy away from: Peak oil — M. King Hubbert’s famed idea that we will reach a maximum for extracting petroleum from the Earth, and that after that, supplies will only go down from there.
“Within the next 10 to 20 years, we will not only reach peak oil, we will enter a period where demand for all liquid fuels will exceed supply,” Lentz said.
“A century after the invention of the automobile, we must re-invent it with powertrains that significantly reduce or eliminate the use of conventional petroleum fuels. One of many alternatives is through what is commonly called the electrification of the automobile. By far, the single most successful example of this has been the gas-electric hybrid.”
With that, he introduced the FT-CH, a concept car that is 22 inches shorter than the Prius. The car appears to be a more pedestrian version of the Lexus LF-CH concept, which was seen last month at the L.A. Auto Show.
Toyota has been planning on building a “family” of hybrids on the success of the Prius, now in its third generation, and said the FT-CH could be part of that plan.
“The strategy is still taking shape and obviously it will require additional models to qualify as a family,” Lentz said. “Among others, the FT-CH is a concept that we are considering.”
Lentz added that the concept, designed in Nice, France, was aimed at the “8-bit” generation — or those who grew up in the early 1980s and were exposed to 8-bit video-game systems and microprocessor technology.
Toyota didn’t say much more about this four-seater, including power ratings and the other stuff us car nuts love. But the company has set up a dedicated Web site called Sustainable Mobility where broader info is offered.