Toyota to launch pure electric car in U.S. by 2012

By Chang-Ran Kim, Asia autos correspondent

DETROIT (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp said it would launch an all-electric car for city commuting by 2012 in the United States as part of its plan to speed up the introduction of green cars as its global sales falter.

The FT-EV concept made its debut at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit Sunday, where the world's top automaker is also unveiling two new gasoline-electric hybrid cars.

The FT-EV concept shares a platform with the tiny iQ urban commuter car, which runs on a gasoline engine and emits just 99 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer.

"Now, more than ever, while we are so focused on the pressing issues of the moment, we cannot lose sight of our future," Irv Miller, Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. group vice president, said in a statement.

Toyota said the concept car is targeted at the urban dweller driving up to 50 miles between home and work, for instance.

"Last summer's $4-a-gallon gasoline was no anomaly," Miller said. "It was a brief glimpse of our future."

Toyota, which had previously said it would aim to get an electric car out by the "early part of the next decade," would join rivals General Motors Corp and Nissan Motor Co in the race to grab the lead in the zero-emission car segment.

But Toyota said it still considered gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles its long-term core powertrain technology.