Toyota believes in drivetrain diversity to reduce CO2

Toyota believes in drivetrain diversity to reduce CO2

Many are passionate about climate change and plan to reduce their carbon footprint, however driving a battery-electric vehicle as a means of doing so is not for everyone, said Toyota chief scientist Gill Pratt at the Reuters Events Automotive Summit, Autoblog reported.

Toyota believes in diversity of drivetrains in order to give customers different tools to reduce CO2 output. “It’s not for us to predict which solution is best, or to say ‘only this will work’,” Pratt said at the conference, adding that government incentives should be focused on reducing carbon emissions instead of choosing which technology is the best way to achieve those goals.

This was in reference to the upcoming bans on internal combustion-engined vehicles, which would include hybrid vehicles. The comments made by Pratt come after similar statements by the Japanese manufacturer, including by its president Akio Toyoda, who said that carbon emissions is the enemy, not internal combustion.

Giving customers a range of powertrain options to choose from includes offering hybrids as well as fuel-cell vehicles, and compared to compatriot Honda, Toyota said that it is too early to put all its eggs in one basket; some may love BEVs but others don’t see the technology as convenient, and “in the end what matters is what customers choose,” said Toyota chief technology officer Masahiko Maeda.

Hydrogen power was also trialled in racing, with a Corolla running a specially adapted 1.6 litre turbocharged inline-three cylinder engine from the GR Yaris road car. In terms of hydrogen in an FCEV application, the Mirai has entered its second generation, and recently set a distance record for a series-production, hydrogen-powered vehicle in August.

Despite its ongoing development of alternative fuel powertrains, Toyota has been subject to accusations by the environmentalist crowd in the United States that the Japanese manufacturer has been actively slowing the transition to battery-electric vehicles by lobbying the government.

That said, Toyota is rolling out a slew of battery electric vehicles in the future, starting with the bZ4X that is set for debut in 2022. This will be the first of 15 fully electric models that Toyota will roll out by 2025. Toyota will also ramp up its commitment of resources to the development and production of EV batteries with a 1.5 trillion yen (RM55.8 billion) investment, which also goes towards the constructing of a flexible supply network and production system to deliver more than 200 GWh by 2030.

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Mick Chan

Open roads and closed circuits hold great allure for Mick Chan. Driving heaven to him is exercising a playful chassis on twisty paths; prizes ergonomics and involvement over gadgetry. Spent three years at a motoring newspaper and short stint with a magazine prior to joining this website.

 

Comments

  • Changing to BEV has very little impact in reducing CO2 to be honest, and research shows it is only contribute to a fraction of it (TED talk: 100 solutions to reverse global warming)
    The biggest enemy is our human consumption behavior, consuming more than we need that causes higher goods manufacturing and production and leads to higher emission from factories, producing food waste that decomposed and emits CO2, deforestation for agriculture land, animal farms, new housing development.
    We might be thinking that we are doing good for the environment by switching to BEV, but as long as our consumption behavior do not change, nothing will change in the long run.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 22 Thumb down 4
 

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