Toyota to sell plug-in hybrid

But he said electric vehicles will be mainly for short commutes for some time, with gasoline-electric hybrids, which generate their own electricity, remaining the standard for “green’’ cars. That’s because with them, drivers don’t worry about running out of electricity while they are on the road.

His comments show Toyota, the world’s biggest automaker, is banking on hybrids, which switch between a gasoline engine and an electric motor, after the success of its top-selling Prius hybrid. A plug-in hybrid is cleaner than a regular hybrid because it travels longer as a zero-emission electric vehicle.

“Toyota is working on developing hybrid technology as the core technology of the future,’’ Uchiyamada said at a Tokyo showroom.

He took pains to show Toyota isn’t lagging in electric car technology, but acknowledged it had fallen behind its Japanese rivals, Nissan Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp., in bringing them to market.

Nissan is delivering the Leaf electric car this year, and Mitsubishi’s iMiEV is already on sale.

Besides developing an electric car in-house, Toyota is working on an electric sport utility vehicle with the US luxury electric car maker Tesla. A concept model that’s being shown at the Los Angeles Auto Show is planned for sale in the United States in 2012, with a range of 100 miles on a single charge.

Toyota’s own electric vehicle in the works is based on the iQ ultra-compact car and has a range of 65 miles on a single charge.

During a test drive yesterday, it sped around a short course without any problem, making whirring motor noises instead of the usual roar of an engine.

Uchiyamada outlined Toyota’s green strategy, stressing that concerns were growing about the environment and the world’s oil supply.

Toyota is planning to introduce 11 new hybrid models by the end of 2012, including revamps of existing models, he said.

Uchiyamada said Toyota is working on more futuristic technology, as well. It will start selling a fuel cell hybrid vehicle, which would run on hydrogen, in about 2015 and is aiming for a price of $122,000 or lower.

Toyota has sold 2.8 million hybrids since the first-generation Prius went on sale in 1997. It sells more than 7 million autos around the world in a year.