Toyota to accelerate its electrification plan – aims for half its global sales being electrified vehicles by 2030

Toyota has announced an acceleration of its electrification plan, which will see the automaker ultimately having half of its global sales annually being made up of electrified vehicles by 2030. The 5.5 million unit target will include a million zero-emission vehicles a year.

Stating that it will no longer develop models without an electrified version, the ramping up will see more than 10 battery electric models being deployed worldwide by the early 2020s, starting in China, before entering other markets such as Japan, India, the US and Europe.

Also, its fuel-cell electric vehicle line-up will be expanded for both passenger and commercial vehicles in the next decade – it said last year it was targeting to sell 30,000 units of FCVs globally per year by 2020. Additionally, the company said that by 2025, it is looking to have a dedicated electrified version or an electrified option available for every model in the Toyota and Lexus line-up globally.

It said it will be focusing on growing its hybrid vehicle line-up – the automaker is targeting to introduce a more powerful version in some hybrid models, develop simpler hybrid systems for select models and expand its plug-in hybrid vehicle line-up in the 2020s.

It added that it is working to address current limitations with battery technology, particularly in areas of energy density, weight, packaging and cost. The automaker said it is actively developing next-generation solid-state batteries and aims to commercialise the technology by the early 2020s.

Toyota is also set to explore prismatic battery technology, which promises reduced weight/cost and a more optimised package in terms of efficiency, with fewer cells required for a given voltage. It added that a feasibility study is being conducted with Panasonic to explore a joint automotive prismatic battery business.

The electrification push is the main pillar of a mid- to long-term initiative to achieve the company’s Environmental Challenge 2050 – which aims to reduce its global average new-vehicle CO2 emissions by 90% from 2010 levels – that was announced in October 2015.

Last year, the automaker announced it was establishing an in-house venture company to fast track the development of electrified vehicles. The virtual organisation, made up of a four person committee (one each from Toyota Industries, Aisin Seiki, Denso and Toyota Motor Corporation), will be independent of other internal structural organisations. Its small organisational structure is meant to enable it to implement unconventional work processes, leading to accelerated project progress and fast-to-market products.

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