Will Toyota’s EV ad work to silence the critics?

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Many publications, including ourselves at InsideEVs, have criticized Toyota for avoiding fully electric cars. This has happened for a variety of reasons, but the point is that Toyota has been viewed as anti-EV by many in the industry for years, and the company and its executives have gone so far as to push back against electric vehicles instead. strongly.

Today, Toyota presented its “Showroom of the Future,” revealing 16 upcoming battery-electric vehicles. However, the ad was aimed as much, if not more, at proving that Toyota is not anti-EV as it was about unveiling electric cars. According to Automotive News, Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda said during the presentation:

“Some people say Toyota isn’t interested in electric vehicles, that’s what you hear a lot. But when you think about the volume [of EVs] we are talking about a huge volume. “

Toyota has been the leader in hybrid technology for many years. In fact, the brand, with its luxury division Lexus, offers most of the vehicles in its lineup with an optional hybrid powertrain. In addition, some of the brand’s vehicles are only available in hybrid.

Toyota has also been a strong proponent of hydrogen fuel cell technology, although it currently only produces one such car, the Mirai. The company has made it clear on several occasions that it does not believe car buyers are ready for electric vehicles. Keep in mind that while electric cars are growing in popularity, only a very small percentage of cars in the world are fully electric, and this percentage is particularly low in the United States.

Toyota went on to say that even with the company’s latest announcement, the reviews won’t stop. He basically said that skeptics will now say that Toyota is not investing enough or considering selling a sufficiently large fleet of electric vehicles. Toyota plans to sell at least 3.5 million fully electric cars by 2030, up from its previous estimate of 2 million. CEO Toyoda continued:

“Two million is a huge number and now we say 3.5 million as a benchmark, but people will always say [it’s only] 3.5 million out of 10 million per year. “

Toyota sells cars around the world, and it’s getting to the point where it will almost be forced to manufacture battery-electric cars to meet stringent emissions requirements in Europe, China, and the United States.

Nevertheless, the brand continues to assert that even if it is launching into electric cars, it still wants to offer plenty of other options to please everyone. This is in part due to the fact that Toyota sells vehicles in many markets that do not have strict emissions requirements. Toyoda also reiterated that one in five million people could lose their jobs in Japan if the country goes all-electric. The CEO added:

“We live in a diverse world and at a time when it is difficult to predict the future. It is difficult to satisfy everyone with a single option.”

So what do you think of Toyota’s plans? Are they enough to silence the critics? Are CEO Toyoda’s words poured out in a way that makes it seem like Toyota is aiming to be a leader in electric vehicles, or just an automaker that conforms to it because it has no other choice ?

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