Electric is the future of cars, right? Most would say so, and almost every carmaker (plus some tech companies and device makers) is putting full resources into EVs, because to not do so would be to risk being left behind in the new era, one where batteries will get us around, not some combustible liquid.
Despite being a pioneer in electrification via its hybrid cars, Toyota has been a slow starter when it comes to pure electric vehicles. Resting on its hybrid laurels? Maybe not. Perhaps the reason why the Japanese giant did not put its full might into EVs earlier (it’s still not doing so now), is because it doesn’t have full conviction that BEVs are the future.
Bloomberg covered Toyota’s annual shareholder meeting in Japan last week, where the carmaker says that its lineup over the next 30 years will contain a myriad of propulsion options beyond just BEVs. In response to a question on why Toyota is taking a different electrification route than Honda, which is aiming at full EV sales by 2040, director Shigeki Terashi said that it’s too early to put all eggs in one basket.
“It’s too early to concentrate on one option,” he said, adding that in the years leading up to 2050, different options including hybrids and fuel-cell vehicles need to compete against each other so that Toyota is left with the best options.
The maker of the Prius also does not see the global auto market being EV-only in the years and decades to come. “Some people love battery-electric vehicles but others don’t see the current technologies as convenient. In the end what matters is what customers choose,” Toyota’s chief technology officer Masahiko Maeda said.
There’s also another aspect that was raised. According to the report, some studies show that the materials needed to make EV batteries could account for a larger share of total greenhouse gas emissions than those from a car’s tailpipes.
When looking at reducing carbon emissions, there’s one school of thought that says we should focus on BEVs, Terashi said. “We’re choosing to look at the whole lifecycle,” including production, use and scrapping-related emissions, he added.
Not mentioned here, but while electric cars themselves are zero emissions on the move, the electricity that powers them might not be so. It will be fully clean from well to wheel, if the source of electricity is renewable. Examples are power generated from biomass, water, wind or solar. On the opposite end is power from coal.
It was presumably not raised at the AGM, but Toyota has always seen hydrogen fuel cell power as the future of driving. Hydrogen is an element that’s abundant in the environment and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) like the Mirai – now in its second generation – emit nothing but water. Toyota is even experimenting a hydrogen engine, which is like an internal combustion engine, but powered by hydrogen instead of petrol.
At one point, Toyota looked like it was skipping EVs to concentrate on FCEVs (while hybrids hold the fort), but the BEV wave is too big to ignore now. It’s not too late however, and Toyota has been making up for lost time by partnering with battery manufacturers and EV specialists to get up to speed. Premium brand Lexus has confirmed a dedicated EV model for next year, and we expect to see the tech in the Toyota range as well.
In a recent study, European campaign group Transport and Environment placed Toyota last among 10 major brands in Europe in terms of readiness in making the transition to electric by the end of the decade. Can the world’s largest carmaker catch up? We’ll see, but Toyota is not sitting still that’s for sure.
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Most brand don’t have much EV to offer for now.
Not even the supply chain, infrastructure is ready.
In general, the sales of EV is still as low as the sales of Manual Cars.
It’s still quite a niche market, although growing.
Toyota also have e-TNGA platform ready for a variety EV cars launching soon.
While CH-R also have EV variant on sales since 2019.
Even Indonesia EV target is 2050
Japan set Carbon Neutral goal is 2050 too.
Meanwhile,
There are:
Toyota Rav4 prime PHEV
Toyota Rav4 HEV
Toyota Rav4 2.5L
By the time EV is matured, level5 autonomous already matured.
It’s time for post-covid EV Taxi Car Sharing Era
True. Don’t be too quick to dismiss other power sources in favour of pure EVs. We might do the same mistake as we had done before when petrol/diesel was globally accepted as the only option for vehicles.
We can still explore hydrogen vehicles, solar vehicles, and maybe even cleaner-naturally obtained fuel sources.
Toyol will soon bar from selling in most western countries due to poor emission. EVs are the future, say zero to carbon emissions.
Toyota will leave the 500 million EU market and focus on Malaysia instead.
TOYOTA will eventually make Malaysian breathe more toxic fumes from their ICE because TOYOTA think Malaysians are third world mentality buyers like Indonesian .
Thailand is different and is embarking to EV which will put their buyers better and above from third world mentality buyers.
Europeans will soon breathe fresh clean air with full EV e.g. Norway , Sweden, France, Netherland, UK, Belgium
We think Toyota President is Talking nonsense about Full EV pledge because Toyota built its reputation from ICE and without ICE Toyota will not be able to sustain their car business .
Communist China , USA , EU, South Korea automakers will eventually move upward to become leaders in EV faster than Toyota
Only Africa and Middle East will keep on Buying ICE especially Toyota in the future and keep Toyota busy with ICE there
Looking forward to see Proton and Perodua on this list.
ev makes no sense in a lot of developing countries.
So Toyota will drop the developed markets and focus on third-world msrkets only.
Toyota is definitely not “another carmaker”. Burning its cash in research for a better mobility option. Best of luck to Toyota!
Right now, everyone is trying to push their own agendas. Toyota wants fuel-cell vehicles to be the next big thing because they’re in too deep and can’t back out now. Chinese car companies are dominating the EV market right now because China’s CCP government has a very pro-EV policy. Why ? Because China knows that they can potentially dominate the entire electric car chain, from mining in Africa, to manufacturing in China and high profit-margin sales in rich/developed countries.
Meanwhile, European governments like EVs because it can shift their dependence away from the petrochemical industry, which is dominated by unstable third-world countries in the Middle East and South America. Plus, championing EVs will also play into their whole eco-friendly agenda, so they can always use the ‘moral high ground’ card. America (through corporate lobbying) and Russia are trying their best to suppress EVs because they want to maintain the status quo. Japan and Korea are trying to maintain a balance between everything and everyone. They have little natural resources of their own, so they have no real agenda to push.
Closer to home, Indonesia wants EVs to succeed because they have vast natural resources to back it and profit big time. Thailand likes EVs because it will solve their annual air pollution problem, and by lining up with European standards, they’re ensuring that they’ll remain a key global export hub. Malaysia doesn’t care about EVs because petrol is still cheap and oil & gas is still a major contributor to GDP. But Malaysia has a robust E&E industry, so if not EVs, then self-driving cars maybe ?
Anyway, my point is that electric cars are not the be-all-end-all grand solution politicians and car companies would like you to believe in. It’s just another stopgap that’s being forced onto the common man for the benefit of the few. Nothing is new here (not even EVs, which have been around for a century), it’s just the same old story with a different twist.
Electric.. use coal, use nuclear power and such not that environmentally friendly la tbh.. wait one day when solar and renewable energy widely accepted then ev boom will come