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Chairman: No All-Electric Future Likely at Toyota
“There will never come a time when all cars are electric,” declares the chairman of Toyota Motor Corp.
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“There will never come a time when all cars are electric,” declares the chairman of Toyota Motor Corp.
Takeshi Uchiyamada tells The Nikkei that Toyota’s plan is to build “just enough” EVs to satisfy regulatory requirements for emissions and/or sales quotas.
Carmakers who rush into high-volume production of electric vehicles won’t be able to remain profitable because battery costs are still too high, Uchiyamada adds. He says range, charging time and battery life also challenge the viability of electrics.
The chairman dismisses as “impossible” estimates that EVs will capture 30% of new-car sales by 2030. He notes it took Toyota 20 years to increase its sales of hybrids to 15%.
Toyota remains a champion of fuel cells as an ultimate power source for vehicles. But that technology isn’t likely to reach more than 20% of the market by 2050, according to Japan’s Hydrogen Council, of which Toyota is a member. Uchiyamada tells The Nikkei even that target isn’t likely unless the public embraces a hydrogen society—and the heavy investment needed to create it.
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