Mexican Media Brands
Toyota Reverses Its EV Policy
Toyota Motor Corp. is making an “agonizing” shift in its attitude about battery-powered cars to meet China’s demand for EVs.
#hybrid
Share
Toyota Motor Corp. is making an “agonizing” shift in its attitude about battery-powered cars to meet China’s demand for EVs.
Sources tell Reuters the company is being forced to scrap plans to bypass battery-based EVs by leaping eventually from conventional gasoline-electric hybrids directly to hydrogen-powered fuel cells.
But China proposes to require that sales by automakers in the country include 8% battery-electric or plug-in hybrids by 2018, 10% in 2019 and 12% in 2020. Achieving those targets will require developing both types of powertrains almost immediately.
China’s policy grants no credit for conventional hybrids, which typically can travel only a few miles in all-electric mode. Toyota already makes a plug-in version of the Prius, which has a larger battery and longer electric-only range. But it isn’t clear if the Prius plug-in delivers sufficient range to qualify.
One Toyota executive grouses to Reuters that China’s new rules “are tough to the point it could wreck our fundamental business case.” But adds another, “We have no choice but to get over our EV allergy and come up with an electric car.”
RELATED CONTENT
-
GM Develops a New Electrical Platform
GM engineers create a better electrical architecture that can handle the ever-increasing needs of vehicle systems
-
Jeeps Modified for Moab
On Easter morning in Moab, Utah, when the population of that exceedingly-hard-to-get-to town in one of the most beautiful settings on Earth has more than doubled, some people won’t be hunting for Easter eggs, but will be trying to get a good look at one of the vehicles six that Jeep has prepared for real-life, fast-feedback from the assembled at the annual Easter Jeep Safari.
-
on lots of electric trucks. . .Grand Highlander. . .atomically analyzing additive. . .geometric designs. . .Dodge Hornet. . .
EVs slowdown. . .Ram’s latest in electricity. . .the Grand Highlander is. . .additive at the atomic level. . .advanced—and retro—designs. . .the Dodge Hornet. . .Rimac in reverse. . .
