Toyota to launch 10 electric vehicles by 2026, including a ute

As expected, new Toyota CEO Koji Sato is pushing the automaker’s EV plans up a notch or two, or so it seems.

In his first press conference since taking power on April 1, Sato-san said the company is planning to launch 10 new electric vehicles between now and 2026. By 2026, the automaker will This is expected to sell 1.5 million electric vehicles per year.

Last year Tesla, the world’s leading electric vehicle maker, sold 1.31 million vehicles worldwide.

According to the numbers compiled by auto newsToyota sold 24,466 pure EVs globally in 2022, a significant decrease — or 0.2 percent — of the 10,610,604 vehicles the company sold across the Toyota and Lexus brands. , Daihatsu and Hino.

On the broader electrification front, Toyota shipped more than 2.6 million hybrid vehicles last year across its four brands, representing just 25% of total sales.

Of the 10 new electric vehicles promised by 2026, two will be developed specifically for China to “fit local needs”.

Another one will be one three rows diagonal will be manufactured in the United States starting in 2025. This model will come with locally sourced batteries to maximize eligibility for the federal electric vehicle tax credit.

For Asia and other emerging markets, Toyota is planning to produce “battery-powered EV pickup” — likely an EV variant of the popular HiLux ute, possibly based on HiLux Revo EV . Concept introduced in December — as well as “launching a small battery-powered electric vehicle.”

Many of the 10 new EVs will be based on the e-TNGA architecture as the foundation for Toyota bZ4X and the Subaru Solterra, Lexus RZ, and Toyota bZ3 sedan crossovers only available in China, powered by BYD engines and BYD Blade batteries.

It is unknown, right now, how many of these 16 EV Concepts announced in December 2021 will now go into production. These ideas were part of an announcement that it pledged to invest a total of 4 trillion yen ($45 billion) in technology development and electric cars by the end of 2030. At the time, Toyota was targeting production. produce 3.5 million electric vehicles per year by 2030.

Lexus will lead the automaker’s EV charge. Not only will it become an exclusive electric vehicle brand by 2035, but it is also expected to sell 1.0 million electric vehicles per year by 2030.

While the goal of 1.5 million electric vehicles per year by 2026 may seem extremely ambitious at first glance — especially given all the hardships that every manufacturer, both new and old, has gone through to ramp up electric vehicle production — Toyota says this is part of the plan while.

According to Yoichi Miyazaki, Toyota’s chief financial officer, the automaker only wants to make the number public after ensuring a sufficient supply of batteries.

As it struggles to make 1.5 million electric vehicles a reality, Toyota is also busy working on a new structure that will feature “dual [the] driving range using batteries with much greater efficiency”.

Along with this, the company will overhaul its vaunted Toyota Production System to cut the number of processes in half, marking changes that include “automated testing and driverless transportation.” powered by connected technology”.

With today’s extremely efficient production system, Toyota has an operating margin of about 10%, one of the best margins among established automakers, but it’s not worth it. compared to Tesla’s current 20% profit margin.

Toyota is aiming to have its production facilities carbon neutral by 2035, and these production changes will be overseen by a new division within the company.

Despite the renewed interest in electric vehicles, Toyota remains committed to other forms of electrification, primarily hybrids and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), especially in parts of the world that are not yet ready. for electric vehicles. With improved battery efficiency, Toyota plans to double the EV driving range of the PHEV models to 200 km.

It also isn’t abandoning fuel cell vehicles (FCEVs), but “will pursue mass production with a focus on commercial vehicles.”