Car stuff (public number: chedongxi)
The author | Mumi
Editor| Xiaohan
Toyota's electrification transformation is fighting!
On the afternoon of December 14, Toyota Motor Group held a press conference to announce its pure electric strategy.
At the press conference, Toyota changed its previous cautious attitude towards pure electricity, showing 15 upcoming pure electric vehicles in one go, including 5 bZ series models and 4 Lexus models, as well as 7 Toyota Lifestyle concept models. Among them, the Lifestyle concept models cover SUVs, sports cars, pickup trucks, vans and so on.
President Akio Toyoda also said at the press conference that it is expected that by 2030, Toyota will launch 30 pure electric models, and the annual global sales volume is planned to be 3.5 million units.
The Lexus brand is directly transformed into a pure electric brand - by 2030, Lexus will achieve 100% pure electric vehicle sales in China, North America and Europe, and reach the goal of global sales of 1 million units. By 2035, 100% of the worldwide sales of pure electric models will be realized.
In addition, Toyota plans to invest US$35 billion (about 222.775 billion yuan) in pure electricity by 2030.
▲ Akio Toyoda at the press conference
At the press conference, Akio Toyoda stood in front of the 15 new Toyota pure electric camps with open arms, as if to tell the outside world that Toyota has also decided to embrace electrification with all its might.
First, in 2030, Toyota's pure electric sales plan is 3.5 million Lexus will fully transform pure electric
As the eldest brother of the top three Japanese luxury brands, Lexus will become a pure electric luxury brand in the future.
According to Toyota's plan, by 2030, Lexus will first achieve full electrification in china, Europe, and North America (that is, only sell pure electric models), and then completely transform into a solid pure electric luxury brand in 5 years.
▲Lexus new pure electric SUV
Toyota has made a big move on pure electricity, which is indeed a bit of a surprise.
Because in the past, Toyota has been more optimistic about hydrogen energy and hybrid systems on the electrification route.
In terms of hybridization, Toyota once contracted half of the hybrid world by relying on the patented barrier of the THS system and planetary gears. Three years ago, Toyota's hybrid vehicle sales were 1.6 million units, which was 400,000 more than the total sales of pure electric vehicles in the world that year.
In terms of hydrogen fuel cells, Toyota has always believed that the future development route of new energy vehicle technology should start from fuel vehicles, transition to hybrid vehicles, and eventually move towards the ultimate solution of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
In December 2017, Toyota announced its electrification strategy, which has made it clear internally that it will return to the pure electric route.
A month later, Toyota announced its 2020-2030 electric vehicle popularization plan, according to the plan, toyota will next significantly accelerate the development and launch of hybrid vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs), pure electric vehicles (BEVs) and fuel cell vehicles (FCEVs).
On June 9, 2020, Toyota revealed a signal about actively embracing pure electric power at the annual "Toyota Technology Space" event: 2020 was called its "FIRST YEAR OF EV" by Toyota. Product planning has been fine-tuned to 2025, and Toyota plans to launch more than 10 pure electric models in China and achieve annual sales of more than 5.5 million electrified models worldwide.
But just last year, after Toyota announced that it had entered the first year of pure electricity, the cautious Japanese veteran car company began to do a big job on the pure electric track.
At present, Toyota has launched about 100 models in more than 170 countries and regions, including fuel vehicles, hybrid vehicles, plug-in rechargeable hybrid vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. The Lexus brand has also launched about 30 models in more than 90 countries and regions, including fuel vehicles, hybrid vehicles and plug-in rechargeable hybrids.
Based on this all-electric strategy, Toyota expects to launch 30 pure electric models by 2030, providing a comprehensive lineup of products in various fields including passenger cars and commercial vehicles worldwide. By 2030, the global annual sales of pure electric models are planned to reach 3.5 million units.
Second, pure electricity has become a general trend Toyota is not far behind
So why do cautious and conservative Japanese companies such as Toyota suddenly start sprinting on the pure electric track?
A very important reason is the market trend.
From the following data, it can be seen that with the rapid growth of the pure electric vehicle market share in the three major automobile markets of China, the United States and Europe, pure electricity has become an unstoppable development trend in the era of new automobile four modernizations.
According to the latest data from the Association of Automobile Manufacturers, from December last year to November this year, in the country segment, the sales share of Japanese cars in the Chinese market, including Toyota, is constantly being compressed by the rising Chinese independent brands (the sky blue part in the figure below).
▲From December last year to November this year, the sales share of China's automobile market was divided by country
On the other hand, pure electric models occupy the vast majority of China's new energy vehicle market. Therefore, as the cake of China's pure electricity market becomes bigger and bigger, it is bound to have more new and old forces enter this market.
The later you enter, the less likely you are to win. If you don't come up with a powerful product, even if the old ones such as Toyota, it will be difficult to share another piece of cake in the big plate of China's pure electricity market.
Obviously, Toyota wouldn't want to let that happen.
▲From December last year to November this year, the share of pure electric and hybrid vehicles in China's new energy vehicle market accounted for
In the Sales Data of Various Power Models in the European Market in September this year, Toyota only got 2223 units of sales with rav4 in the hybrid field, while no model in the field of pure electricity was on the list, and the gap between pure electric sales and Tesla, which ranked first in total sales, was still very large.
▲ Ten best-selling models with different powers in 26 European markets in September 2021
Combining the situation in various markets, it is not surprising that Toyota is eager to launch more pure electric models.
Third, the electric anxiety of traditional car companies Sub-brands have been electrocuted
Behind Toyota's transformation of Lexus into pure electric, in fact, it also reflects the electric anxiety of traditional car companies. In the process of promoting electrification, most of the old car companies with big businesses will start with sub-brands.
GM and Ford have long launched pure electric versions of their sub-brands.
Last year, General Motors announced that it would launch a pure electric version of the Hummer, and Ford also launched the Mustang Mach-E, a pure electric SUV under its Mustang brand.
The hummer's pure electric version is very powerful, with a maximum power of 1000 horsepower, a torque of 15591.91N·m, an acceleration time of only 3 seconds from 0 to 60 mph (about 96 km/h), and a range of 560 km (no test standards have been announced).
At the same time, the pure electric Hummer pure electric version will be equipped with the next generation of Super Cruise, which can achieve L2 level automatic driving, and at high speed, it can also achieve automatic driving with both hands and feet completely free.
▲Pure electric version of the Hummer
The Mustang's pure electric SUV Mustang Mach-E is the first pure electric SUV in the true sense of the Ford brand, and the release of this model means that Ford, a century-old car brand, has returned to the center of the electrification stage.
▲ Ford Mustang Mach-E
In fact, as early as 1914, Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motor, invented the concept electric car together with his close friend Thomas Edison. The concept model features a Ford Model T frame, and the battery is mounted on the front of the vehicle.
At the time, Henry Ford was confident in the future of electric vehicles, stating: "Electric vehicles will become the means of transportation for the families of the future." ”
Going round and round, these veteran car companies are back on the electric track.
Conclusion: The electric circuit will be more lively
Toyota unveiled 15 pure electric models in one fell swoop, and plans to invest 35 billion US dollars (about 222.775 billion yuan) in the electric field. Toyota's big move in the field of electric power seems to be echoing with the German Volkswagen in central Europe.
Not long ago, Volkswagen also held a meeting of the Group's Supervisory Board, announced its new round of electrification transformation strategy, and spent 89 billion euros (about 639.932 billion yuan) to promote the development of electrification and intelligent technology.
As traditional car companies continue to accelerate the pace of electrification and transformation, the competition for electric vehicles in the future will be more intense, and more high-quality products will be launched in turn.