Despite the recently announced decision to launch an electric variant of the C-HR crossover in China — starting next year, China obliges all manufacturers to have 100% electric cars in its range —, Toyota remains reluctant to take a possible future step towards 100% electric vehicles.
Not only because he understands that hybrids will continue to be a more valid option, but also because of his distrust of lithium-ion batteries — but no longer for solid-state ones!
The most recent position was taken by Toyota Motor Company CEO Shizuo Abe, who, speaking to Wards Auto, said that “we believe that hybrids will continue to be more important than electric ones”, so “the our main bet to achieve the goals set by the new regulations, not only in Europe, but globally, will continue to be hybrids”.
According to the same responsible, Toyota believes global sales of its (regular) hybrids will reach four million units by 2030 — Toyota sells around 10 million cars a year globally — adding several hundred thousand plug-in hybrids and several hundred thousand 100% electric vehicles.
Trouble with trams? Lithium batteries
For Shizuo Abe, the biggest problem in current electric vehicles is in lithium-ion batteries, which are expensive, large and heavy, in addition to exhibiting “deterioration characteristics” that cause them to lose capacity as they age and add up to hundreds of cycles. of cargo.
The CEO of Toyota Motor Company uses, as an example, a hypothetical 100% electric Prius to demonstrate the cost of batteries. If there was a 100% electric Prius, to achieve a range of 400 km, a 40 kWh lithium-ion battery pack would suffice. The cost of the batteries alone would amount to something between six thousand and nine thousand euros.
Even if, over time, the price of batteries would halve - as it is expected to happen by 2025, despite being an ambitious goal - this does not necessarily mean that the electric will become more appealing to most consumers , defends Abe.
Most interesting solid state batteries
More interesting, for the same responsible, seems to be the future technology of solid state batteries, guaranteeing that Toyota wants to commercialize this solution “as soon as possible”.
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Although Toyota has announced that it intends to market electrics with solid-state batteries as early as 2022, Shizuo Abe says they will, for now, be test vehicles and small productions, with mass production taking place in 2030, “a more realistic date ” for the launch of this technology on the market.