Akio Toyoda once again sang about electric vehicles, and Musk responded
It's no secret that Akio Toyoda, chairman of Toyota Motors, has always disliked electric vehicles. A few days ago, Akio Toyoda once again made negative remarks about electric vehicles.
At a recent business event, Akio Toyoda said that Toyota serves about 1 billion people around the world, and to provide cars to places where electricity is not available, it needs to develop in a multi-path. "From the perspective of the development of pure electric vehicles (BEVs), it is expected to account for 30% of the global automotive market. The remaining 70% are HEVs, hydrogen fuel cell (FCEV), hydrogen-fueled vehicles, and in my opinion, gasoline vehicles, which will definitely have a place. In Akio Toyoda's view, it is not the prescribed value or political forces that determine this, but the customers and the market.
Akio Toyoda believes that about 1 billion people around the world do not have access to electric vehicles because of charging facilities, so electric vehicles cannot be accepted by everyone. Toyota's mission is to reduce carbon emissions, but it doesn't have to be an electric vehicle. He also complained that the media did not explain clearly why electric vehicles are the best option for the future.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk also responded to Akio Toyoda's remarks, but his reply was simple, expressing helplessness and speechlessness. Previously, Musk had warned that if traditional car companies did not quickly transition to electric vehicles, they would be eliminated, just as the film giant Kodak was abandoned by the digital age.
In fact, this is not the first time that Akio Toyoda has made relevant remarks about pure electric vehicles, and many of them are regarded as "bombardment" of pure electric vehicles. Just last year, during the Tokyo Motor Show, Akio Toyoda said that the company's slowdown in sales proved that he was right to boycott electric vehicles. Automakers should continue to invest in hybrid vehicles instead of going all-in on electric vehicles.