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Why Toyota – the world’s largest car manufacturer – does not focus on electric vehicles


About two decades ago, Toyota Motor has become the favorite automaker of U.S. environmentalists and environmentally conscious consumers with the Prius hybrid, an “electrified” vehicle among the cleanest. and most fuel efficient ever produced.

Amid rising gas prices, demand for the vehicle grew and inspired other automakers to launch more hybrid models. Prius vehicles, including a plug-in hybrid electric model, remain among the most fuel-efficient, gasoline-powered vehicles in America.

But as the auto industry transitions to a battery-powered future, the Japanese automaker has fallen out of favor with some of its once-core supporters due to irony, Prius and Toyota hesitation. Invest in all-electric vehicles.

“The reality is: today’s hybrid is not a green technology. Prius hybrids run on the polluting combustion engines found in any gas-powered car,” said Katherine García, campaign manager for Clean Transport. to everyone of the Sierra Club, write in a recent blog post.

Greenpeace last week Toyota ratings at the end of a study on the decarbonization efforts of 10 automakers, citing slow progress in their supply chains and sales of zero-emissions vehicles such as electric vehicles accounting for less than 1% of total sales. their sales.

While automakers like Synthetic engine, Volkswagen and others vow to invest billions of dollars in recent years to develop all-electric vehicles that don’t need gas engines like Prius, Toyota has lagged, only recently announced the similar investment. It also continues to invest in a portfolio of “electrified” vehicles – from traditional hybrids like the Prius to more recently launched, but not yet wildly successful, vehicles. bZ4X power crossover.

The strategy has pitted the world’s largest automaker against many rivals and raised questions about its commitment to a sustainable future path for the industry, despite the company’s goals. be carbon-free by 2050.

Toyota is not alone in such a plan. Stellantis, Ford and other Japanese automakers are making similar investments in electrified hybrid models. But in the hands of the mainstream hybrid vehicle organization, a cautious approach to electric vehicles is remarkable.

The Rise and Fall of the Toyota Prius

Toyota CEO, while increasing Invest in all-electric vehiclesThey think the company’s strategy makes sense – not all regions of the world will adopt electric vehicles at the same rate due to high vehicle costs and lack of infrastructure, they said.

“For a lot of people who want to talk about electric vehicles, the market is still not mature enough and ready… the US, last month during the company’s meeting,” said Jack Hollis, executive vice president of sales at Toyota Motor North. Virtual Automotive Press Association.

Hedging bets

In December, Toyota announced 4 trillion yen investment planor now about $28 billion, on the list of 30 battery electric cars by 2030. At the same time, it continues to invest in hybrids like the Prius and other potential battery-powered alternatives.

“We want to give each person a way in which they can contribute the most to tackling climate change. And we know that the answer is not to treat everyone the same way. the same way,” said Gill Pratt, principal scientist and CEO of Toyota Research. Institute, during a media event last month in Michigan.

A few weeks ago, the company announced it would spend up to $5.6 billion on hybrid and all-electric battery production in Japan and the US to support its previously announced plans. That sounds like a lot, but it’s made by others like GM and VW.

GM, for example, has set its sights on providing exclusive zero-emissions, electric car in 2035including the Cadillac and Buick brands by 2030. Several other automakers have either made similar vows or set a target that 50% or more of their vehicles sold in North America are all running. by electricity.

Toyota has a goal to sell 3.5 million electric vehicles per year by 2030, which accounts for more than a third of its current sales. Those sales include about 1 million units from the luxury Lexus brand, which intends to exclusively offer electric vehicles in Europe, North America and China at the time.

Toyota Motor Corporation cars are seen at a press conference on the company’s strategy for battery electric vehicles in Tokyo, Japan on December 14, 2021.

Kim Kyung-hoon | Reuters

Paul Waatti, director of industry analysis at AutoPacific, believes Toyota is “certainly on the conservative side” when it comes to electric vehicles, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing for such a large automaker.

“I think they are hedging their bets,” he said. “From a global perspective, a lot of markets are moving at different speeds. The US is slower than Europe and China in EV adoption but there are other markets that don’t have the infrastructure. A diverse approach in powertrains has implications for global automakers.”

In 2021, Toyota sold 10.5 million vehicles in about 200 countries and regions, more than any other global automaker, including those of Daihatsu Motors and Hino Motors affiliates. Volkswagen – the world’s second-largest automaker – has sold 8.9 million vehicles in 153 countries, while GM and its joint ventures have sold 6.3 million vehicles, mainly in North America and Asia.

Only one solution

Toyota believes that all-electric vehicles are a solutions, not solutions, as the company’s goal is to be carbon neutral.

“In the distant future, I would not invest assuming that electric batteries account for 100 percent of the market,” said Jim Adler, founding managing director of Toyota Ventures, the automaker’s venture capital arm. “It’s really going to be a mixed market.”

Toyota executives expect different regions of the world to adopt electric vehicles at varying rates, largely based on available energy, infrastructure and the raw materials needed for batteries to power the vehicle. provide power to the vehicle.

2022 Toyota Mirai electric vehicle powered by hydrogen fuel cell

Toyota

In addition to hybrids and plug-in electric vehicles, Toyota also invests heavily in hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle, including the second generation of Mirai.

Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles operate like battery powered vehicles but are powered by hydrogen and oxygen, with water vapor being the only byproduct. They are filled with nozzles almost as quickly as traditional gas and diesel vehicles.

“BEVs, fuel cells, plug-in hybrids, all those mitigations are going to happen and they are all important,” Hollis said.

However, fuel cell vehicles face the same challenges as all-electric vehicles: cost, lack of infrastructure, and consumer understanding.

Toyota said it also look at e-fuel, which officials say is a climate-neutral fuel to replace gasoline in electric vehicles.

Cost and materials

And mid-tier options tend to come with lower price tags.

For example, a 2022 Toyota Prius hybrid with an EPA rating of up to 56 mpg combined starts at around $25,000. That’s about $17,000 less than the automaker’s all-electric bZ4X crossover.

A Toyota bZ4X 2023 electric vehicle (EV) during the Washington Auto Show in Washington, DC, on Friday, January 21, 2022.

Al Drago | Bloomberg | beautiful pictures

Batteries in electric vehicles are extremely expensive, and prices continue to rise due to inflation and demand for materials like lithium, cobalt and nickel needed to make batteries.

Cost of materials for electric vehicles more than doubled during the coronavirus pandemicaccording to consulting firm AlixPartners.

That makes Toyota’s hybrid strategy somewhat economical – relatively speaking. Toyota also reckons that there aren’t enough such minerals to go around.

“In the next 10 years, there will be major bottlenecks in the worldwide supply of lithium,” says Pratt. “Just look at the number of mines that need to be produced. There will also be a bottleneck for battery-grade nickel because of the amount refineries need to pay when demand grows so quickly.”

The Metals Co.a Canadian-based start-up, estimates there isn’t substantial enough battery-grade nickel, cobalt, and manganese sulfate production to meet U.S. EV targets by 2030.

The publicly traded miner forecasts that even if all nickel sulphate production forecasts through 2030 from the United States and free trade agreement countries go into electric vehicle production, it will provide grant less than 60% of the EV target set by the automakers during that time period.



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