Takeshi Uchiyamada, head of research and development, environmental technologies, at Toyota:
"The electric vehicle has become a fever and everyone is talking about it," he says during a journalist briefing in Frankfurt.
"But in the 1990s, lots of vehicle manufacturers launched electric vehicles, and Toyota did too.
"And if the question is if there have been any major technological developments since then, the answer is no."
Toyota believes current battery technology, though vital to its petrol-electric hybrid solutions, is merely good enough to power small cars for city driving, just as it was 15 years ago.
2009 Frankfurt Auto Show.
But then again, what would a Toyota researcher know about electricity?