[RahulNagaraj]

While multiple automakers around the world have announced their plans to go electric with their product lineup, Toyota seems to have other plans.



According to a media report, the Japanese carmaker feels that it is too early to focus entirely on electric vehicles. Toyota Director, Shigeki Terashi, explained that between now and 2050, carmakers will need to offer multiple options apart from BEVs, including hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles.

Toyota had previously announced that the company will continue to offer multiple options in the market while leaving the purchase decision to the customers.



Reports suggest that Toyota is concerned that the production of batteries and electricity for EVs generates more emissions than that saved by the vehicle on the road. The company, hence stated that to truly reduce carbon emissions, carmakers must look at the entire production cycle and not just the tailpipe emissions.

Having said that, the Japanese carmaker does have electric vehicles in the pipeline. The company will introduce new EVs in the market, however, it will do so alongside other vehicles not powered by batteries.

Source: Automotive News

Link to Team-BHP news

[Raghu M]

And I'd say Toyota is not wrong in their thinking. EVs in Asian markets have a long way to go before being seen as regular cars on the roads. What Toyota can do is set up a good R&D center, work on the range and charging time of an EV and come up with something out of the box. The current EVs can make up as beater cars at the most but not as primary tourers. As long as a car is not fit for that family long trip without too much planning, they are not going to click.

[fearless_IN]

Originally Posted by Raghu M

What Toyota can do is set up a good R&D center, work on the range and charging time of an EV and come up with something out of the box.

Couldn't agree more on this Raghu. However, I also feel since the Japanese started focussing on Hybrids and Fuel Cell Cars that is why they are finding ways to promote the same. Currently, Toyota and Honda, are late in developing proper EVs, not only for Asian Market but in Global Market.

[padmrajravi]

I agree with Toyota here. It is too early to focus only on EVs. I think all the manufacturers who are leaving out combustion engines to focus only on EVs are making a big mistake. Especially the luxury car manufacturers.

Luxury is all about flexibility and EVs will not be flexible anytime in the near future. I think hybrids are the need of the hour. As of now hybrids with an EV mode provides the ultimate luxury.

[meto]

Originally Posted by padmrajravi

Luxury is all about flexibility and EVs will not be flexible anytime in the near future. I think hybrids are the need of the hour. As of now hybrids with an EV mode provides the ultimate luxury.

I do agree to the above. EV specially in India is a long way to do. It requires a robust infrastructure for EVs to come into reality and we are a long way from there. EV cannot be the primary vehicle for a family in our country. Hybrid is the solution to go for.

We talk of EV's been clean, but are they really so? Leaving apart from the manufacturing of the battery which has environmental concerns, we are still largely dependent on fossil fuel for our electricity generation. Move EV would also mean more of fossil fuel burning and thus the term "clean" is negated.

EV's will be a nice step forward, however we need to understand that the carbon emission from all the car's ICE engines in the world is a very miniscule percentage of the total carbon emission. Apply the same taxes to the ships and the environmental gains would be manifold. World moving towards EV would have a more geo-political impact than benefit on carbon emission.

[TrackDay]

Couldn't agree more ! While the rest of the herd are running behind electric technology, I applaud Toyota for calling a spade a spade. EVs are the future no doubt, but too soon to fully convert drivetrains into that, abandoning ICE in the way.

By the end of this decade Toyota will be having the last laugh while the rest will have to face the obstacles of being a pioneer of a technology that is yet to be fully implemented and practical. On one hand it is good to have EVs in the portfolio and Toyota can easily manage that.

[V.Narayan]

Toyota's approach makes sense. Whenever there is a fundamental switch from one mode of propulsion to another it takes about a decade and a half before the optimum mode/combination emerges through live use and perfection of the winning technology.

In the 1890s to c.1910 also we had steam cars, ICE cars, electric cars all jostling for space and finally the ICE emerged ahead gradually even though back in 1890 steam was the more mature technology and coal the more common fuel.

A similar transformation took place in propulsion of warships from steam to gas turbines. Gas turbines offer several over arching advantages over steam turbines key of which are instant power, small size, lower complexity but with much higher fuel consumption {especially at lower power ratings and in tropical waters} and susceptibility of the turbines to salt air corrosion. Between 1961 and c.1980 the Russians, British and Americans in that order experimented with several combinations of engines - Combined Steam + Gas {COSAG}; Combined Gas and Gas {COGAG}, Combined Gas or Gas {COGOG} Combined Diesel or Gas (CODOG} and Combined Diesel and Gas {CODAG}. And for 25 years after 1961 warships of various sizes from 500 tonnes to 20,000 tonnes appeared with one of these combinations. Gradually the jury settled on CODOG and COGOG. Eventually marine gas turbine technology and transmission designs got to the point where COGAG with two large and two much smaller turbines are paired together and is a preferred solution. For the forseeable future COGAG and CODOG seem to be the way forward for the next several decades.

Similarly we cannot guess how things will pan out between BEVs, Hydrogen powered cars, PHEVs and in a later time frame even plug-in cum solar charged EVs. I believe the next 15 years will see several combinations play out, the regulators will be driven by emerging technology changes, infrastructure availability or lack of it, need for taxes and I daresay confusion. For a decade or two all solutions that reduce overall pollution, in a farm to fork way, will be treated as acceptable and finally technology and infrastructure will decide the flow of the river.

[GTO]

I will actually counter Toyota and say, if you aren't already focusing on EVs, you are late to the party! Of course, that doesn't mean razor sharp focus just on EVs because petrols + diesels + hybrids still form 99% of car sales worldwide. And unlike 4G internet or full screen phones without keyboards (aka iPhone in 2007), it will take a whole lot of time for EVs to gain mass acceptance. But they are the future for sure. Not just manufacturers, even in the consumer's mind, EVs have occupied any & all available space.

Toyota just keeps on making such statements because their hydrogen cars have flopped.

[vredesbyrd]

Just throw the EV idea out the window and give us that 4.0L V6 Hydrogen Fortuner already!

It is inevitable but EVs are the dreaded future (despite being really harmful during battery production). We're headed for "greener" dark skies.

No vibration, no noise, no mechanical movement. Only 3 hours to sit and mourn ICEs while your laptop with wheels charges.

[ZenMaster]

Originally Posted by GTO

I will actually counter Toyota and say, if you aren't already focusing on EVs, you are late to the party! Of course, that doesn't mean razor sharp focus just on EVs because petrols + diesels + hybrids still form 99% of car sales worldwide. And unlike 4G internet or full screen phones without keyboards (aka iPhone in 2007), it will take a whole lot of time for EVs to gain mass acceptance. But they are the future for sure. Not just manufacturers, even in the consumer's mind, EVs have occupied any & all available space.

Toyota just keeps on making such statements because their hydrogen cars have flopped.

There is truth to what you are saying. But I think what Toyota means is that they are not going to back themselves into a corner by "fully electrifying" their entire line-up, but instead continuing to focus on all types of propulsion until the time is ripe unlike Volkswagen and European brands who are promising 100 electrified portfolio by 2025, 2030 etc.

Its definitely the time to focus on EVs but not the time to completely convert to EVs.

I still have no idea why they are pushing their FuelCell cars though. Why are they not focussing on FC trucks/lorries instead? That's a more a sensible direction.

The personal car is definitely going the EV way. Just a matter of when Battery tech will mature.

[DicKy]

Tesla made BEVs cool and Europe overcompensated for Dieselgate, but it was China's BEV push that is the main reason for today's rush towards 100% BEV. But then is it really viable for the whole of the world's new car fleets to turn into BEV? Or would it be so smooth a transition?

In the late 2000s and early 2010s, most automotive media would end up ridiculing Toyota's hybrid approach. Diesel was the darling then. Would wonder why the Japanese were reluctant on small diesels then. In the 80s/90s atleast Toyota and Nissan had diesel options in all of their models. Toyota had diesel engines from their smallest Starlet to their full size Crowns. But then they jumped straight to hybrids. The 1NDTV was the last small diesel to be launched, in 2002. For a company that plans ahead by decades, they must have seen the limitations of small capacity diesel engines. And today? Everything from hypercars to city cars are using hybrid tech.

By the late 2020s/early 2030s, while most companies would have shifted entirely to BEVs, Toyota would be offering petrol, diesel, petrol hybrid, diesel hybrid, PHEVs, BEVs and FCEVs options. Future is EVs for sure, but whether it is HEVs or PHEVs or BEVs or FCEVs is to be seen.

My simple theory is today's petrol applications will be replaced with BEVs/PHEVs, while diesel applications will be replaced with FCEVs. Governments all around the world are pushing for hydrogen fuel cells, and we have recently seen Reliance investing in the fool cells. If Muskie boi has his way, he will even make a ship that runs on batteries. Toyota sees ahead and plans likewise, and is not limited by just external factors.

[landcruiser123]

Quoting myself from another thread here:

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

I'm a firm believer that most future transportation powered by alternate fuel needs to be as simple & convenient as filling up your fuel tank today. Also, we can't put more strain on our powerplants if everyone owns a BEV. Only small cars will be BEVs. Most larger cars, SUVs, trucks, buses, trains, ships, etc will be powered by Hydrogen fuel cells. Hydrogen adoption will start with industries(already using gray hydrogen), followed by large ships, rail, and commercial trucks.

Toyota is right about not putting their eggs in one basket. All the EV technologies are evolving and depending on the advantages and limitations of each technology, a combination of BEVs, FCEVs, and who know what else!

BEV makers are hogging the limelight as:
1. Wall street bets on them in the US
2. To appease European legislators who feel betrayed after dieselgate
3. Chinese control over half of the raw material and 3/4ths the Lithium refining capability in the world

One thing we can be certain of is that the pure ICE is dead. Range extenders and PHEV will still be pretty common for the years to come.

[coolmel]

I am with Toyota. The day an Innova EV comes with a range of 500-1000kms and full charge in 10 mins...take my money already! They will take their time but when they will launch, it will be good.

[sandeepmohan]

This is Toyota's conservative approach to just about everything they do. They took forever to deploy something as basic as Apple and Android systems for their ICE. We are seeing something similar here. For Toyota, switching to EV's should be child's play. They are already doing it by offering Plug In Hybrids. I am sure they are ready to go all EV when the time is right. Its just a matter of throwing away the engine and fitting a giant battery to the car. The software and everything else has been ready to go for over 20 years. We are talking about a company that was thinking about a from of a EV vehicle back in the early 90's. They eventually ended up as Hybrid's. You can't say they are ignoring EV. The Proace series sold in Norway is offered as a diesel Hybrid and 100% BEV. They have presence in markets where EV adoption is high.

[nimz_blr]

I agree with philosophy of Toyota. Hybrids seem to be good solution before full transition to EVs. They control the emission problem without deterring buyers for lack of EV infra. Flip side is higher cost as compared to traditional IC Engine cars.

They must be fun to drive too, as power from Hybrid motor will provide torque right from the go which most single-turbo charged IC Engines lack.