The trend of the times, the "conservative" Toyota finally bowed to the pure electric trend.
On December 14, Toyota Motor Corporation held a strategy conference on battery electric vehicles. Toyota Motor CEO Akio Toyoda announced that he will invest $35 billion in electric vehicle research by 2030, and will launch 30 electric vehicles before that, and the Lexus brand will also be fully transformed into a pure electric brand.
Akio Toyoda said that by 2030, Toyota motor will sell 3.5 million electric vehicles worldwide every year. In Toyota's plan released in May this year, this number is only 2 million, which means that it has been raised by 75%.
Toyota can be described as "no electricity is already, an electric shock." ”
Until then, Toyota has been holding back in the electrification transition. Electric vehicle "black powder" Akio Toyoda himself is cautious about electric vehicles, and he has questioned whether consumers really want to buy pure battery-powered cars.
At the annual meeting of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association in December 2020, he publicly stated that pure electric vehicles were over-hyped and that the Japanese government did not take into account its true carbon dioxide emissions and the impact on the electricity shortage. "A hasty shift to electric vehicles could weaken the supplier network of traditional gasoline-powered vehicles, in which case the automotive industry's current business model will collapse."
However, the industry generally believes that maintaining its leading position in the field of fuel vehicles and hybrid vehicle technology can enjoy the greatest benefits of the existing. I am afraid that the main reason for the slow electrification transformation of Japanese car companies is not lost.
However, the wave of electrification is coming, Tesla, China's new car-making forces and some traditional car giants are visible to the naked eye, competitors are racing in the global market, toyota finally can't sit still.
At Tuesday's press conference, Toyota Akio's side put out 17 pure electric models, of which as many as 15 new models debuted, with a magnificent momentum, comparable to the Evergrande booth of this year's Shanghai Auto Show. Covering various market segments such as cars, SUVs, MPVs, sports cars, pickup trucks, etc.
Akio Toyoda also announced that by 2035, all new cars under the Lexus brand in Europe, the United States and China will become pure electric vehicles. In 2035, it will be fully electrified globally. Lexus' electrification sales target is to sell 1 million pure electric vehicles by 2035.
"I want to talk about Toyota's strategy to achieve carbon neutrality, as well as the strategy of battery electric vehicles, which is a promising option." Akio Toyoda said at the press conference.
At the same time, Toyota plans to invest 8 trillion yen (about $35 billion) in research and development costs for new energy vehicles, including electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, and fuel cell vehicles. Half of them are used for the study of purely electric directions.
In the future, Toyota's pure electric series will be the bZ series, which means "Beyond ZERO", similar to Volkswagen's ID series models. The bZ4x, the first electric vehicle in the series, was unveiled during this year's Shanghai Auto Show.
It is reported that the bZ SDN concept car will be the first pure electric vehicle jointly built by Toyota and BYD, and its mass production version is expected to be launched at the Beijing Auto Show that opens in April next year, and will be released before the end of 2022.
The cooperation between BYD and Toyota began on July 19, 2019, when the two companies jointly announced that they will jointly develop pure electric models for cars and low-chassis SUVs, as well as power batteries required for the above products. In 2021, BYD Toyota Electric Vehicle Technology Co., Ltd. was officially established, with Toyota and BYD each contributing 50%.
Comments
Toyota's move is enough to show its attitude and determination to transform electrification. Lexus' electrification process, in particular, was surprising. Toyota, who had experienced wandering and discomfort, finally began to make drastic moves. However, there are also views that Toyota is still building electric vehicles in the way of traditional fuel vehicles, and its electric vehicle prospects are not optimistic, in any case, Toyota's pure electric vehicles are already on the string and have to be sent.