On December 14, 2021, Toyota Motor Corporation President Akio Toyoda turned MEGA WEB into a future showroom, opening a BEV Show on how Toyota is achieving carbon neutrality.
It is reported that Toyota will continue to expand the selection range of "carbon-neutral models" by introducing BEV models. By 2030, the company will introduce 30 BEV models and offer a comprehensive lineup of products in various fields including passenger cars and commercial vehicles worldwide. By 2030, BEV plans to reach 3.5 million units worldwide annually.
For Toyota's future planning, this not only means that it hopes to respond to all the situations and needs of each country and region, and provide diversified options for achieving carbon neutrality, but also a positive response to its all-round electrification posture to combat global climate change.
2021 can be described as the first year of "carbon neutrality". If "environmental protection" is just a topic that has always been on the lips, then in 2021, all companies in all countries will recognize that "carbon neutrality" is so urgent, and have set clear "carbon neutrality" plans and goals.
The Chinese government has also announced that it will achieve carbon peaking in 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. Sustainable development in the future, especially for the automotive industry, which is a major carbon emitter, is particularly urgent to adopt clean and low-carbon alternative energy sources.
Unlike many car companies that take EV (pure electric) as the only development direction, Toyota adheres to all-round electrification technology and actively promotes the technological progress and popularization of HEV (dual engine), PHEV (dual engine E+), EV (E into the engine), FCEV (hydrogen engine), and provides a variety of choices for Chinese consumers in an all-round way.
Burn half less fuel than others,
Toyota Hybrid has long contributed to environmental protection
In fact, we all have a misunderstanding, when it comes to new energy, we want to reduce emissions from the current level to zero, zero emissions are currently only EV and FCEV (hydrogen energy) can do. Is this span and difficulty a bit contrary to the orderly and sustainable development approach we have been advocating?
If we look at the problem from another angle, if we can significantly reduce fuel consumption by half in the urban car environment (the least efficient state of fuel vehicles), is it already making a huge contribution to environmental protection and carbon neutrality?
As early as 1993, Toyota launched a project named the G21, proposing to produce "the cars needed by the earth in the 21st century." In 1997, after the establishment of the G21 project, Toyota produced the world's first mass-produced HEV model, the Prius.
According to Toyota's statistics, Toyota has accumulated sales of more than 18 million HEVs worldwide, the battery capacity is equivalent to about 260,000 EVs, and the CO2 emission reduction effect is equivalent to about 5.5 million EVs.
In Toyota's all-round electrification strategy, HEVs and PHEV (plug-in rechargeable hybrids) will continue to develop and contribute in the future. It is true that China's land area is vast, and the climatic conditions and car environment are quite different, so China's future new energy structure will not be a single EV pure electrification.
In 2015, Toyota unveiled the Toyota Environmental Challenge 2050 strategy, which aims to "bring the negative impact of the car to zero infinitely" and "bring positive energy to society." Aim to reduce the average global CO2 emissions from new vehicles by 90% by 2050 compared to 2010.
In achieving carbon neutrality, Toyota knows that it cannot rely solely on vehicle technology advancements, because the automotive industry must reduce carbon dioxide emissions from all aspects of vehicle production, use and recycling.
To this end, Toyota strives to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from manufacturing, storage, use, recycling, and disposal from a life-cycle perspective.
Under the trend of pure electricity, the Toyota bZ4X is impressive
Toyota's all-round electrification technology, of course, is indispensable to the most popular EV pure electric solution.
At the 2021 Shanghai Auto Show, Toyota unveiled its new pure electric exclusive series "TOYOTA bZ" for the first time in the world, and exhibited the first concept car of the series, "TOYOTA bZ4X CONCEPT". Soon, Toyota announced the details of the bZ4X, the first model of the TOYOTA bZ pure electric exclusive series, and it was a 100% restoration of the design of the concept car.
The bZ4X's styling is recognizable, youthful in design, with a short suspension and a long wheelbase, providing interior space comparable to that of the D-Class. In addition to having a 4WD all-wheel drive system developed in collaboration with SUBARU, it also innovatively features an alien steering wheel like an F1 car, as well as a steer-by-wire system.
Steer-by-wire is a steering wheel and steering actuator system to achieve separation, through the operation of the steering wheel can directly and freely change the wheel angle, at low speed can greatly reduce the steering wheel rotation amplitude without changing hands.
The bZ4X adopts the exclusive BEV platform based on the e-TNGA concept to achieve low center of gravity and high rigidity, adopts the X-MODE function jointly developed with SUBARU (AWD car, Toyota for the first time), and is equipped with the newly developed "Grip-Control Intelligent Multi-road Adaptation System", which gives full play to the characteristics of motor drive to meet the needs of daily life to light off-road use, and has a passability that exceeds expectations.
The bZ4X is expected to go on sale in China, Japan, the United States, Europe and other markets in mid-2022, while Toyota will also use the bZ4X as a starting point to fully promote the continuous expansion of the BEV lineup. As part of all-round electrification, by 2025, Toyota will launch 15 EV models worldwide, including the TOYOTA bZ pure electric exclusive series, and plans to launch seven products.
Hydrogen is the ultimate energy source, and Toyota's all-round electrification is an important step
At the Toyota booth of the 4th CIIE this year, Toyota brought the TOYOTA bZ4X CONCEPT concept car that was unveiled at the Shanghai Auto Show. But the most important exhibit on the booth is still the direction of hydrogen fuel cells. Including the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle MIRAI II and the hydrogen fuel cell Kosta Minibus, many hydrogen fuel cell power units were exhibited at the same time.
Not only that, during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Toyota will put into large-scale use of FCEV "Mirai II" and "Costa Hydrogen Engine" in China for the first time, as well as a variety of BEV and HEV models. In addition, in order to better serve the Winter Paralympic Games, Toyota will also provide welfare vehicles for the use of people with disabilities. In addition, the Winter Olympics will use about 200 Beiqi Foton hydrogen fuel cell buses equipped with Toyota's hydrogen fuel cell system.
Hydrogen fuel cells have the advantages of short fuel filling time, high cruising range and zero emissions, which are very suitable for zero emissions of medium and heavy commercial vehicles. Commercial vehicles have a fixed driving path relatively, and hydrogenation is more convenient than passenger cars. Therefore, Toyota cooperated with Tsinghua University to set up a joint research institute in 2019, and in 2020, it set up a commercial vehicle fuel cell system research and development company with five Chinese partners.
In March 2021, Toyota and Yihuatong cooperated to establish a commercial vehicle fuel cell system production and sales company (FCTS). On October 26, the joint venture began selling the first fuel cell system "TL Power 100" for commercial vehicle development and production. This set of products is based on the localization of fuel cell systems for commercial vehicles in China.
The energy density of the "TL Power 100" hydrogen fuel cell is 711W/kg and 4.9kW/L, while the rated power is 101kW, which is high in the domestic commercial fuel cell power. At the same time, it can achieve 30,000 hours of ultra-long durability.
Toyota will continue to focus on FCEVs in the future, and after the Beijing Winter Olympics, the subsequent reuse of FCEVs in the transportation service vehicles of the Winter Olympics. Toyota hopes to take this as an opportunity to promote cooperation and development in China's hydrogen fuel cell industry.
Toyota is fully electrified and has gone very solid
Toyota's "carbon neutrality" plan is like Toyota's car concept, it will not only inject a new technology, but systematically realize it with hybrid, pure electricity, hydrogen energy and other technologies. And pay attention to and do a good job in every detail, every step is very solid and reliable.
Starting with the first HEV model Prius in 1997, Toyota has had a wide range of models from passenger cars to commercial vehicles in the past 20 years, including 45 HEV models, 4 PHEV models, 4 EV models, and 2 FCEV models.
It can be said that Toyota's contribution to "carbon neutrality" has not stopped. It is reported that Toyota will continue to expand its product range according to consumer demand, contribute to the sustainable development of the automobile industry, and help China achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.