Foremost car maker, Toyota has revealed its efforts to unveil Toyota all-electric vehicle 5 years earlier than originally anticipated. The photos of the planned electric vehicles was also presented at the latest preseentation by the R&D department of the company.
NaijAuto.Com gathers that the automaker plans to accelerate the production of its electric cars by five years. The company is partnering with two giant battery manufacturers in China in order to achieve this goal.
1. Toyota accelerate EV plan, 5 years earlier than initially expected
Toyota’s plan to accelerate things by five years was revealed by its top executive, Head of R&D and also the executive vice president at Toyota, Shigeki Terashi.
According to a report by Reuters, the company had to revise its goals by setting them five years sooner in order to meet the “sudden surge” of EVs.
Also, Vice President Shigeki Terashi says the plan is to take the electric vehicle market by storm. According to him, the goal is to ensure that at least half of the company's total global sales (about 5.5 million units) are electrified vehicles by the year 2025, which is actually five years earlier than the initially marked goal of 2030.
Although the Japanese car maker’s plan is still largely focused on hybrids and not all-electric vehicles yet, it revealed that pure electric vehicles will account for over a million of the 5.5 million units target.
Images of Toyota's all-electric vehicles meant for global consumption
Part of the very tall dreams which the company seem to be nursing towards electrification is also to unveil its planned solid-state battery pack for its electrified cars come next year, 2020, ahead of the Summer Olympics slated to hold in Tokyo.
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2. Toyota electric vehicles unveiled in Terashi's presentation
Often times, automakers use the term “electrified vehicle” to refer to hybrids as opposed to all-electric vehicles but this time around, Toyota has stated in very clear terms what it intends to do.
Judging from the direction of Toyota's move, it is safe to say that the centre of attraction for the company at the moment is hybrids and not all-electric vehicles.
Either way, battery powered electric vehicles require a higher number of battery packs for each vehicle, which is why the automaker has signed a partnership deal with two Chinese battery giants in a bid to secure more battery supply for its accelerated game plan.
The company head of R&D, Terashi said:
“We consider ourselves as a maker of electric vehicle batteries, going back to when we developed the battery for the Prius. But there may be a gap between the amount of batteries we can produce, and the amount of batteries we may need.”
This is why the partnership between Toyota and China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) and BYD does not come as a surprise to many industry faithfuls.
Moreover, the enactment of stringent regulations in China to encourage electric vehicles are strong indications that majority of the battery electric vehicles (BEV) sales might originate from China.
During the presentation “Aiming to Popularize BEVs” by the automaker’s R&D head, he unveiled Toyota's new short range-all electric vehicles. Also, images of the all-electric vehicles meant for global consumption were presented.
Despite the unveiling of these all-electric vehicles, it is still clear that Toyota is only consumed with plans of producing hybrids and fuel cell vehicles, which the automaker envisages as a sustainable solution to pollution problems.
Although amongst automobile researchers and developers, it is highly believed that all-electric vehicles are a more long term and holistic solution, Toyota has made its stance clear on talks bordering on hybrids and all-electric vehicles.
However, industry faithful have remained enthusiastic to see what the giant car maker will eventually bring to the table of all-electric vehicles.
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Toyota unveiled images of its new short range all electric vehicles
According to Terashi, Toyota Motor Corp. is gearing up for the electric vehicle market. "Progress has surpassed the target," Terashi said. "We have entered a new age" he said.
He further revealed that despite the fact that EVs account for only 1.3 percent of the U.S. market, Toyota would focus attention on the U.S. because it is still the world's second-largest EV market in terms of overall volume.
Below is a video of Terashi’s full presentation:
Toyota's presentation on the plan of BEVs
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