TOKYO, Sept. 9, 2021—On Sept. 7, 2021, Toyota Motor Corp. announced it would spend 1.5 trillion yen (US$14 billion) over the next 9 years to develop more efficient batteries for its carbon neutrality policy by 2050. It’s hardly news. It was clearly timed to the Sept. 7-12 Frankfurt Motor Show being held in Munich, Germany to remind the world that the Japanese automaker is at the forefront of electric vehicle development, not a laggard.
Toyota engineers explained at length about the rapidly changing global auto market, from gas-powered, then hybrid (primarily in Japan), and finally to electric, as well as its vehicle electrification efforts. ‘There’s no time to lose when it comes to reducing ‘CO2,’ Masahiko Maeda, Toyota’s chief tech officer, read his statement.
Toyota’s previous policy had been to prioritize gas-electric motor hybrid vehicles (HEVs), which it had commercialized as the world’s first automaker in the late 2000s, as the interim powertrain to combatting auto-emitted CO2 reductions before shifting to hydrogen fuel cell, instead of batteries. Maeda said Toyota now prioritizes EV development over HEVs. ‘CO2 reducion effect of three HEVs (hydrogen electric vehicles) is almost equal to that of one BEV (battery EV),’ he said, acknowledging that Toyota positions EVs as top priority in R&D and product launches.
Maeda camouflaged the company’s policy shift by emphasizing that Toyota is a leading automaker for vehicle electrification. It claims gas-electric motor hybrid vehicles can be counted as part of vehicle electrification, with hybrid cumulative sales totaling 18.1 million cars.
Cold fact, however, is the global auto industry over the past two years or so has morphed into mostly EV developers, leavng Toyota and other Japanese manufacturers plus a few others in the dust.
It’s a reason why Toyota said it would invest 1.5 trilion yen for EV development to woe Munich motor show visitors and Maeda’s lengthy explanations about the company’s battery R&D and development, though devoid of anything new as far as products and technology. We’ll see abou that in coming months.
Cold fact II is the Japanese auto industry is at the threshold of becming a bunch of so-called Galapagos companies for having failed to pay due respect to Tesla and other EV startups as well as Chinese EV makers.
My hope is that Toyota can lead the pack to catch up with foreign rivals, not an easy task. Honda dropped out of the Japanese automaker EV alliance and decided to gang up with General Motors for battery development. Who is next? Nissan perhaps!?
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Insight Into the Future