Two Toyota-branded battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and one plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) will make their way to the U.S. market this year, a statement from the company confirmed.
“We continue to be leaders in electrification that began with our pioneering introduction of the Prius nearly 25 years ago,” said Bob Carter, TMNA executive vice president of sales. “Toyota’s new electrified product offerings will give customers multiple choices of powertrain that best suits their needs.”
Toyota is the top alternative powertrain vehicles seller in the U.S. It has 40 percent of the market, which includes a 75 percent share of the fuel cell market and a 64 percent share of the hybrid and plug-in hybrid sales. The Toyota Prius was the first mass market hybrid vehicle. It went on sale in Japan in 1997 and came to America in 2000 where it quickly became a status symbol among the California elite.
The 2021 Toyota Corolla Cross is currently on sale in Asia.
Photo courtesy of Toyota Motor Corporation
Toyota’s goal is to have 40 percent of all new vehicles be electrified models by 2025 and by 2030 that number is expected to increase to nearly 70 percent.
“We believe the fastest way to lower greenhouse gases in the transportation sector is to offer drivers lower carbon choices that meet their needs,” said Gill Pratt, chief scientist of Toyota Motor Corporation and CEO of Toyota Research Institute. “At every price point and with multiple powertrains, we can put more people in cleaner automobiles across North America to have the greatest near-term impact on total carbon emissions.”
Which vehicles will come this year? It is likely that one of them will be a sedan, as shown in a graphic provided by the company. Whether the next two models are a Venza PHEV, Corolla Cross EV, or something else entirely remains to (publicly) be seen. If the photo provided by the automaker for this story is any clue, we might see an all-electric Mirai and RAV4 EV, in addition to one other model.
The last tine Toyota sold a BEV in the U.S. was 2014 when the RAV4 EV was on dealership lots.
