Just this week, Honda's CEO indicating his company might shelve hydrogen plans and turn to electric vehicles in the near term.  He cited frustrations with deploying a fueling infrastructure in the U.S. as a major cause for considering turning away from hydrogen.

Now Toyota has debuted a new prototype, raising questions about whether it may be pondering an electric leap of its own.  The new prototype is dubbed the FT-EVII (FT = "Future Tech") and made a star appearance at the 2009 Tokyo Auto Show.

More rounded and bulbous than Honda's electric vehicle prototype, the FT-EVII is built largely from existing Toyota technologies, including the iQ platform and components from its Synergy hybrid system.  The iQ is a platform of small, fuel-efficient gas and diesel vehicles sold in Japan and the U.K.  No iQs are sold in the U.S although Toyota is rumored to be bringing the gasoline version here under the Scion nameplate.

Despite trashing lithium ion batteries in a recent interview, Toyota's EV relies on them as an integral component of the powertrain.  Toyota still uses nickel-metal-hydride power pack designs in most of its hybrids, including the Toyota Prius.

An interesting thing to note about the FT-EVII is that it has a range of 56 miles -- less than the soon to be released Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi iMiev all-electrics, which have a range of 100+ miles.  This will likely limit potential sales to urban drivers.  Toyota is reportedly sticking with shorter ranges for potential commercial deployment.  This might not be entirely bad, as the vehicles would still appeal to a massive populations living in the world's large cities, such as Tokyo, London, and New York.

While most of the vehicle's mechanics are very feasible, and actually close to being a producible design, the vehicle features an outlandish control yoke and interior design.  The vehicle also features sliding doors, another unusual feature.