Toyota chairman predicts battery electric cars will only reach 30% share
TOYOTA Motor chairman Akio Toyoda believes battery electric vehicles will reach, at most, 30 per cent of market share, with the rest taken up by hybrids, hydrogen fuel cell and fuel-burning cars.
With a billion people in the world living without electricity, limiting their choices and ability to travel by making expensive cars isn’t the answer, the grandson of the company’s founder said during a business event this month, according to remarks published on the company’s media platform on Tuesday (Jan 23). “Customers – not regulations or politics – should make that decision,” he said.
The world’s No 1 carmaker has pushed back against criticism of falling behind in the transition to electrified vehicles, saying that its pioneering hybrid drivetrains, hydrogen technology and holistic approach will ultimately prove to be the right approach for the business, customers and the environment. In fact, earlier this month, Toyoda announced an initiative to develop new combustion engines.
“Engines will surely remain,” Toyoda was quoted as saying in the company publication. It wasn’t clear whether Toyoda’s remarks referred to new car sales or those already on the road.
EVs will account for 75 per cent of new car sales and 44 per cent of passenger vehicles on the road by 2040, according to a forecast by BloombergNEF.
Touted for years by Toyoda, the “multipathway approach” argues that customers should be able to choose whatever powertrain fits their needs, and that the EV shift won’t happen as quickly as many think.
Last year, chief executive officer Koji Sato promised Toyota would sell 1.5 million battery EVs a year by 2026, and 3.5 million by 2030. BLOOMBERG
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