Although Toyota is one of the world’s leading automakers, its electrification strategy is not keen on going the pure electric vehicle route. Akio Toyoda, president of the Japanese car brand, has repeatedly expressed his skepticism about all-electric vehicles. He believes that most people in the auto industry have similar thoughts, but have never expressed their opposition to the pure electric vehicle strategy. He believes that the silent majority in the auto industry is wondering if EVs can really be the single option for electrification, but they are not speaking out because it is a trend.
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Japanese auto brands are under pressure to launch electric vehicles due to increased demand for zero-emission models and increased competition, but Akio Toyoda reiterated that Toyota is not keen on a pure electric vehicle strategy for its electrification plans.
The Toyota president has said the automaker would rather focus on options to explore zero-emissions mobility. That’s why the auto brand is exploring a wide range of electrification technologies for its vehicles. These electrification technologies include hybrid, plug-in hybrid, fuel cell, pure electric, etc.
Akio Toyoda’s recent comments about electric vehicles are the clearest summary of his company’s long-term strategy to explore multiple electrification options. His comments come as several automakers around the world have set deadlines to go all-electric. Moreover, governments around the world are increasing pressure on the automotive industry to adopt cleaner and greener powertrain solutions by tightening emission standards to reduce vehicle emissions to the environment.
Toyota sees where hybrid and hydrogen vehicles, as well as electric vehicles, are headed. Toyoda believes that hybrid vehicles, which combine a gasoline engine with an electric motor to generate electricity while reducing emissions, could be the perfect bridge to fill the gap between internal combustion engines and all-electric powertrain technologies. Part of the automaker’s lack of enthusiasm for EVs may be due to the fact that it hasn’t had as much success with EVs as other automakers have. Its enthusiasm for hybrid vehicles, on the other hand, stems from the success of models like the Prius Hybrid. However, it remains to be seen how long Toyota will stick to its existing strategy.
First published date: December 22, 2022 at 11:24 AM CST
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