The Japanese manufacturer Toyota has been betting on the partial electrification of its vehicles since 1997, when it launched the first Prius on the market. Some competing brands that looked strange and even with some sarcasm on this model strange Those equipped with hybrid technology are currently the standard bearers of 100% electric vehicles as the only way to achieve carbon neutrality, Europe’s medium-term goal.
Relying on the confidence of its own vision as well as enviable financial muscle, Toyota remains steadfast in its convictions and despite having gave up With the recent introduction of several fully electric models, it remains confident that the future will be multi-technology, including hybrid engines, which it has successfully produced for 25 years.
Gil Pratt, the corporation’s chief scientist and executive director of the Toyota Research Institute, was able to say it louder, but not more clearly, at the Kenshiki Forum, which the brand holds annually in Brussels: “We have to do what is best for the environment. Achieving as much carbon reduction as possible from all battery cells produced and replacing as many non-electrified vehicles with electrified vehicles as possible, based on the simple premise that our enemy is carbon, not any particular motorization. ”
Pratt explained that Toyota’s technology-neutral approach recognizes the benefits of battery-powered and hydrogen-powered vehicles to achieve emission-free mobility. But given the scarcity and high cost of battery manufacturing materials, and the current inadequacy of charging infrastructure, it is better to go for a mix of 100% electric, plug-in hybrid and pure hybrid vehicles (A complete hybrid) to reduce CO2 emissions over the next 10-15 years.
“We call it that strength andBecause rarely does one size fit all, especially given the diversity of customer needs and infrastructure readiness levels,” added CEO Kyle Jimenez.
In addition to the cars it produces, Toyota Motor Europe has decided to make all its European production facilities carbon neutral by 2030. Marvin Cook, executive vice president of manufacturing, lists the goals of reducing energy consumption as much as possible, transitioning to green energy. and implement many innovations Kaizen To reduce or completely eliminate CO2. “At our engine plant in Deeside (UK), we have installed solar panels on an area equivalent to 10 football pitches and have recycled more than 90% of waste to produce green energy, with which we hope to achieve carbon neutrality as early as 2025. He said on the Kenshiki forum.
Product news
At a meeting where Toyota’s European and global executives brief the press on the company’s strategy for the coming years, plans to launch six 100% electric vehicles by 2026 were announced. The news coincides with last year’s announcement that the brand would continue. By 2030, there will be 30 new battery models that coexist – always in Toyota’s specific vision – with others that use complementary technologies.
In fact, the Toyota C-HR Prologue has already been seen in Brussels, which will follow the lines of the second-generation C-HR, a true bestseller, scheduled for 2024. In this case, the average SUV of the Japanese firm. It will be available with both the traditional hybrid engine it has used so far, as well as a plug-in hybrid drive system.
Already in the field of more complete electrification, the forum also gave us the opportunity to think about the bZ Compact SUV for an electric prototype, in which it is easy to imagine the future bZ3X; That is, the little brother of the bZ4X, which will be released on the market. Lexus, the luxury division of the Toyota Group, also revealed the Electrified Sport, an electric supercar that could be the successor to the LFA.
A good example of the multi-technology horizon that Toyota sees would be other proposals that include hydrogen fuel cell models such as the famous Mirai or the Hilux H2 prototype, which has already begun development in the United Kingdom. The brand has been experimenting with hydrogen-burning cars, such as the Toyota Corolla Cross Hydrogen Concept, which it also showcased at its annual event.
Source: El Diario
