Although Toyota recently presented a promising strategy around electric cars, the firm still does not seem to believe in this engine. So much so that she says she prefers to buy CO2 credits rather than invest in an electric car.
From 2035, all manufacturers present in Europe will have to stop selling new thermal cars, and will only offer electric cars. And no one will be spared, except certain brands which sell out less than 1,000 cars each year.
Not yet convinced
Toyota will therefore also have to comply with this rule, even if the Japanese brand is known for not don’t believe in this engine at all. In fact, the manufacturer has even been resisting for many years, having even explained the reasons for this distrust which may seem surprising. For the former boss, Akio Toyota, hybrids would even be almost as virtuous as zero-emission (exhaust).
However, we had a little hope a few months earlier, with the arrival of a new manager at the head of the brand. This is Koji Sato, much more open to electric cars. In addition to the bZ4X and bZ3 already on the market, Toyota had unveiled a very promising strategy, including vehicles with very long ranges. But nothing is decided yet, quite the contrary. And the brand is obviously not yet ready to take the plunge and believe in this engine.
This is what Ted Ogawa, president of Toyota in the United States, explains. The latter was recently questioned by the site’s journalists Automotive News, and he expresses himself bluntly. He explains that EPA, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, wants half of new cars sold by 2030 to be electric. But the businessman points out that Toyota is only targeting 30%, which corresponds to real customer demand.
For the boss, it is more important to take into account the real needs of motorists, rather than the requirements of public authorities. He recalls that “ we respect the regulations, but customer demand is greater“. And it seems that the manufacturer is not yet ready to become an all-electric brand, quite the contrary.
Money wasted
Asked how the brand could close the gap between its sales of electric cars and regulations, the manager did not hesitate. He explains that he is ready to opt for CO2 credit redemption, rather than investing massively in this engine. He indeed considers the latter as waste and believes that “a wasted investment is worse than a credit purchase“.
For the record, the authorities have set maximum CO2 quotas in order to encourage manufacturers to produce more electric cars. However, there is a legal way for those who do not comply with this measure to continue selling thermal models. The latter can buy carbon credits from brands that sell a lot of zero-emission (exhaust) cars, such as Tesla. This is how the firm won 9 billion dollars since 2009 just with this practice.
However, Toyota does not want to definitively draw a line under electric cars, quite the contrary. She actually wants to catch up, whether in terms of its products, but also its ecosystem, such as charging infrastructure, among others. In order to save money, the manufacturer announced last year that it wanted to share its platforms and technologies with brands like Mazda, Subaru and Suzuki.