Unlike General Motors, Toyota’s approach to electrifying its lineup has been rather quiet. The company that sells the most hybrids in the world has today promised to keep up the effort, doubling down on its commitment to electrification and making predictions concerning future sales of the products. Earlier this month, the automaker committed to having 70 electrified products as part of its global lineup by 2025.
Toyota says that they expect battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) to make up 15 percent of its U.S. sales by 2030. Currently, Toyota offers no BEVs for sale though the Toyota bz4X Concept is expected to hit the market sooner rather than later. The company has already reserved the names of future electric members of its product lineup. In North America only the Toyota Mirari sedan is available with a FCEV powertrain and it’s not a hot seller.
The Toyota bZ4X Concept will be a BEV that’s on the market soon.
Photo courtesy of Toyota Motor Corporation
Toyota expects that hybrids (HEVs) and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) will make up 70 percent of the products from both the Toyota and Lexus brands by 2030.
Globally, Toyota expects to sell approximately eight million electrified vehicles by 2030, of which 2 million will be BEVs and FCEVs.
“For over 30 years, Toyota has been innovating and investing in technology to reduce vehicle emissions and achieve carbon reductions,” said Chris Reynolds, chief https://yourtestdriver.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/2023-Ford-Escape-Plug-In-Hybrid_Vapor-Blue_Ford-Escape-ST-Line-Elite_Rapid-Red_01.webpistrative officer, Toyota Motor North America. “And, although some people believe concentrating resources on one possible solution will achieve the goal more quickly, we believe investing in many different solutions will actually be a faster way to achieve carbon neutrality around the world.”
Currently there are 17 electrified vehicles in Toyota’s U.S. lineup:
- Toyota Prius
- Toyota Prius Prime
- Toyota Corolla Hybrid
- Toyota Camry Hybrid
- Toyota Avalon Hybrid
- Toyota Mirai (FCEV)
- Toyota Sienna (all models are hybrids)
- Toyota Venza (all models are hybrids)
- Toyota RAV4 Hybrid
- Toyota RAV4 Prime (all models are plug-in hybrids)
- Toyota Highlander Hybrid
- Lexus ES Hybrid
- Lexus LS Hybrid
- Lexus UX Hybrid
- Lexus NX Hybrid
- Lexus RX Hybrid
- Lexus LC Hybrid
Toyota estimates that over the years its models have saved 139 million tons of greenhouse-gas emissions worldwide–76 million tons in the U.S.
Rather than going all-in on BEVs, Toyota is committed to a portfolio of alternative powertrains that can “help bridge to an all-electric mobility future” while steadily and substantially reducing carbon emissions every year “until the recharging infrastructure and costs of BEVs make them an attractive, affordable choice for all consumers everywhere”.
Toyota intends to play a role in helping to solve BEV infrastructure and cost challenges. This means encouraging “policymakers to write regulations and laws that encourage consumers to consider all kinds of environmentally friendly, carbon-reducing vehicles so we can move even faster toward a carbon neutral society for all”. In 2019 Toyota acknowledged that one of the reasons that it doesn’t sell its Mirai more widely is that hydrogen-powered vehicle regulations are antiquated, especially in the Northeastern U.S.
