Toyota Unveils Hybrid Car Compact Sedan Powered By Gasoline, Electricity

Toyota Motor Corp. rolled out the world’s first gasoline-electric hybrid car Tuesday, promising double the mileage of gasoline engines and half the tailpipe emissions.

Toyota’s determination to be the first out with a hybrid is a sign of its financial might as well as its aggressive drive to promote its brand worldwide.

The car is only being sold in Japan, but Toyota President Hiroshi Okuda said the company would consider selling it in the United States after six months. All major automakers, including Detroit’s Big Three, are working on some type of hybrid.

Toyota has priced the Prius (pronounced PREEH-us), a four-door small sedan, at about $17,700. Analysts say the company will lose money on the car, but Okuda said the company wants regular people driving the cars. Toyota plans to start selling the car Dec. 10.

At lower speeds when tailpipe emissions are high, the car runs only on electricity. It then automatically switches to gasoline after it picks up speed. The gasoline engine also recharges the batteries and uses conventional gas.

Typical electric cars need to be recharged after 120 miles.

In tests by Toyota, the Prius got as much as 66 miles a gallon and recorded only half the carbon dioxide output of a regular gasoline engine while trimming other tailpipe emissions by about 90 percent.

The Prius is about 330 pounds heavier than a typical sedan. Half that weight is from the battery.

Ed Brogan, auto analyst with Salomon Brothers in Tokyo, said Toyota is more interested in image-boosting than big sales because it cannot produce many more than the target of 1,000 a month.

“It can cloak itself in the mantle of an environmental leader,” Brogan said.