Monday, December 22, 2008

Sneak Peek: Toyota FT-EV


Toyota announced today its intention to debut an all-new electric-vehicle concept at January’s Detroit auto show. The vehicle will be called the FT-EV, and the single image released shows only the badge, affixed to a translucent, amber -colored surface. As to the vehicle’s actual identity, FT is simply Toyota shorthand for ‘future,’ so the FT-EV could be anything, really.

To wit, Toyota showed the FT-HS sports-car concept—HS for Hybrid Sports—at the 2007 Detroit auto show. The FT prefix was also applied to the FT-SX concept, which eventually morphed into the production Venza crossover, as well as theFTX concept, which became the current Tundra pickup.

We’ve got our fingers crossed for something sporty, but we’ll have to wait until the show’s press days to find out. Stay tuned for more details.

Toyota will also debut the next-generation 2010 Prius at the Detroit show, where it will battle the 2009 Honda Insight for attention.