Toyota Says They Are Waiting For A Mandate Or Breakthrough On EV Cars

Toyota is undoubtedly lagging behind the rest of the auto industry when it comes to all-electric vehicles. They don’t have a single purely battery-powered car on the market since discontinuing the Rav4 EV, which was a compliance car with a powertrain made by Tesla, and they don’t plan to have one for the next few years. We reviewed the Prius Prime which we found disappointing, noting that it was a shame that this green innovator had fallen so far.

Takeshi Uchiyamada, Toyota’s Chairman, laid out why they are not making significant moves in the sector.
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TheSteve - 9/6/2017 11:14:34 AM

+2 Boost

I hold the view that if the EV mass-market was profitable, then Toyota would be all over it. With a world EV market share of around 1%, and leading country EV market share being around 2%, I can see why Toyota is not fighting aggressively for a piece of that pie.

TomM - 9/6/2017 3:44:01 PM

+1 Boost

I Agree - are small ev's not selling because they are poorly styled - or are they not selling because there is NO market for them? I would guess the latter -and while previously they had a major tax incentive to help - those are likely to run out - and they will have to sell on their own merits.

mpls - 9/6/2017 5:19:02 PM

+3 Boost

They are working on the next generation battery tech that it hopes will be the game changer

https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/toyotas-next-move-solid-state-batteries

CANADIANCOMMENTS - 9/6/2017 6:12:24 PM

+2 Boost

I had read before that hybrid cars were merely a stepping stone to hydrogen cars as far as Toyota is concerned. They may be planning to skip BEV's all together. This would make sense based on their present actions.

TheSteve - 9/7/2017 4:20:19 PM

+2 Boost

See my response (posted 9/7/2017 4:17:46 PM) to BobM, where I explain why hydrogen fuel cells won't likely ever catch on.

TheSteve - 9/7/2017 4:17:46 PM

+2 Boost

BobM wrote "...Fuel cells are the Future, kids!..."

Here are some reasons why hydrogen fuel cells are a bad idea today:

1) Hydrogen fuel requires 2x to 3x the electricity per mile to make it work in a car, as compared to using a pure EV. 1x electricity for an EV. 3x electricity for hydrogen. You do the math.

2) 2/3 of electricity generated in North America comes from burning stuff, including coal and garbage.

3) No infrastructure to create the hydrogen fuel, shore it, ship it, or sell it. Okay, I don't mean "absolutely none." I mean about three dozen stations across all of the US, with 2/3 of that in California.

4) Existing electrical generating and delivery infrastructure does not have surplus capacity to power a massive EV boon, or an even more electrical-hungry hydrogen cell boon.

5) Hydrogen fuel is even more expensive than gasoline! Close to double.

6) The best scientists don't envision the laws of physics changing any time soon, thereby making hydrogen fuel cells for mass personal transit not viable in the foreseeable future.

Love hydrogen cells as you may, barring some miracle, they'll become just another quirky technology that never caught on.

MDarringer - 9/7/2017 7:00:54 PM

0 Boost

The fact is that when Toyota jumps into the EV market, it will own the segment.

MDarringer - 9/9/2017 8:56:39 AM

+1 Boost

The problem with hydrogen isn't the cost of the fuel or the technology to make it work, but the infrastructure. Electricity is already everywhere, so adding a charging station isn't complicated. But to build refueling stations across the nation for hydrogen cars that will always be nothing but a niche in terms of sales, will not inspire business people to build.