For quite some time, Toyota held the crown as the world’s leader in alternatively-powered automobiles after it built the Prius and managed to succeed in convincing the world that not all good cars had to rely exclusively on gasoline to get around. And then….silence. As one of the world’s largest automakers and the developer of highly capable hybrid drivetrains, it would seem that Toyota was in a prime position to introduce the world to the affordable mass-market electric car.
Instead, it focused almost exclusively on advancing hydrogen fuel cell technology. This left many scratching their heads because even though the low-volume and mostly experimental Mirai is proof that hydrogen is a viable fuel source, the technology has more drawbacks—mainly on the infrastructure front—than electric cars. That’s why Toyota’s newest partnership with Panasonic, one that builds on the two companies’ previous partnership by venturing into the world of solid-state batteries and prismatic cells, makes so much sense. After spending billions in hydrogen fuel cell technology while neglecting battery electric cars, Toyota now finds itself behind the research and development curve.
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