Detroit M Show Toyota pure electric car by 2012, Chinese BYD

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

China's BYD, for instance,  will be there with the plug-in-hybrid (left) it launched in its home market a few weeks ago, beating the big boys like GM and Toyota to the punch by a matter of, oh, a year or two. Who knows what the company - whose name is an acronym for Build Your Dreams and whose future is being backed by investment whiz Warren Buffett - will do next?  We might find out as the Detroit show rolls along.