Car Fule

Toyota is famous for its hybrid cars, and does not believe in the electric car at all costs. This is confirmed by a recent document, sent by the Japanese manufacturer to its American dealers, in which we discover that Toyota plans that its sales of hybrid vehicles will increase in the near futuremore than its electric cars or plug-in hybrids.

This document, relayed by the American site Jalopnik, is dated April 2023, at the very moment when the Japanese firm announced the launch of ten new 100% electric models by 2026. A rather contradictory timing, but which does not call back not in question the Toyota business strategy however.

Toyota: a diversified strategy

Indeed, Toyota does not wish to abandon its thermal and hybrid vehicles: in this internal document, the company announces “commit to offering a full range of electrified vehicles, in order to offer all our customers the opportunity to reduce their carbon footprint”.

The Toyota group has announced its desire to achieve carbon neutrality for its factories by 2035, as well as for all of its products before 2050. For its part, the premium Lexus division is preparing to take the turn of the 100% electric by 2035.

To support its point of view, the Japanese brand highlights three major obstacles that prevent the mass adoption of electric cars in the United States. First of all, the scarcity of raw materials : it will take more than 300 new lithium, cobalt, nickel and graphite mines to satisfy the production of electric cars by 2035, and the mining industry would not be able to meet the high demand in this short time.

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Toyota: many obstacles to the electric car

Toyota is also highlighting the charging infrastructure weaknesses : only 12% of public charging points are fast, and to meet government targets for electric cars, no less than 1.2 million public charging stations will be needed by 2030, in addition to the 28 million stations at home, which is equivalent to bringing into service no less than 400 new charging points per day!

Finally, one of the main obstacles to the adoption of the electric car is of course its prixmuch more expensive than a thermal car, to which is added the cost of installing a charging station at home.

To meet this challenge, Toyota is highlighting its “1:6:90 rule” : to produce a single electric car, it would be necessary to use the equivalent in raw materials of 6 plug-in hybrid cars, or 90 hybrid cars. Over their lifetime, these allow a reduction in carbon emissions up to 37 times greater than that of a single electric car.

Source : Jalopnik