Hybrids

A controversy is raging in Japan over the head of Toyota Motor’s insistence that hybrid vehicles be put on an equal footing with battery-powered electric cars. Japanese officials changed a key policy document that put hybrid vehicles on par with battery-electric cars after Toyota chief Akio Toyoda warned an MP that carmakers could not back a government that rejected hybrid engine technology, like that used in the Prius, according to notes from a ruling party meeting.