Basic Specs

Base FromTBA
Unveiling 2009 NAIAS
Availability 2011
Status In Development
Engine 1.5L 4-cyl. + Electric Motor
Body Style Hatchback
Segment Hybrid Entry level
Size Sub-Compact
By Mark Kleis
Saturday, Jan 10th, 2009 @ 9:00 pm

Toyota first introduced the Toyota FT-EV electric commuter car concept at the Detroit Auto Show in 2009. The concept vehicle was a preview for a compact urban hatchback expected to hit the market as a 2012 model.

Based on the iQ minicar, the FT-EV is a lightweight four-seater that uses an electric drivetrain. Although the early concept car was a pure EV, rumor is that the final production version of the vehicle will end up wearing a Scion badge, and come in gas and hybrid form.

Details of the battery-powered car’s range, charge time, and performance figures were not disclosed. Toyota has hinted the low-cost car’s lithium-ion batteries will enable it to travel 50 miles on a charge.

“Our business is no longer about simply building and selling cars and trucks. It is about finding solutions to mobility challenges today and being prepared for more daunting challenges in our very near future,” explained Irv Miller, Toyota’s vice president of environmental and public affairs.

“Now, more than ever, while we are so focused on the pressing issues of the moment, we cannot lose sight of our future,” added Miller. “Last summer’s four-dollar-a-gallon gasoline was no anomaly. It was a brief glimpse of our future,” said Miller. “We must address the inevitability of peak oil by developing vehicles powered by alternatives to liquid-oil fuel.”

With Toyota’s announcement to sell one million gas-electric hybrids per year sometime during the early 2010s, the future of the FT-EV in some form is almost certain. Toyota has shown version of its iQ city car, including one powered by a 1.0-liter four-cylinder engine, and a .5-liter engine combined with a battery and electric motor drive system. The hybrid version would reportedly offer a similar function to the upcoming Chevy Volt, allowing for 15 miles on pure EV mode.

Another report suggests a hybrid version of the car that utilizes a 1.5-liter gas engine with power output in the realmt of 100 to 120 horsepower. This hybrid-iQ would be capable of achieving 60 mpg, and would likely carry a price tag of roughly $15,000.

Although the iQ is most familiar to us in three-door guise, Toyota is also planning five-door and sedan body styles of the iQ for the U.S. market. A convertible variant – using the name iQ Sports — is also rumored to be in the works, with power said to be sourced from the larger 1.3-liter 93 hp four-cylinder engine currently on offer in the Euro-spec iQ.

Hybrid models of the Toyota iQ, whether badged as Toyotas or Scions are not likely to reach retail sale until 2011.

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