Toyota’s chairman doubles down on his electric car skepticism, forecasting that EV adoption will peak at just 30%
Toyota’s chairman doubles down on his electric car skepticism, forecasting that EV adoption will peak at just 30%
“The enemy is CO2,” Akio Toyoda said, as he promoted an approach that includes both hybrids and hydrogen-powered cars.
Akio Toyoda, Toyota Motor’s chairman, has never been a huge fan of battery electric vehicles. Last October, as global sales of EVs started to slow down amid macroeconomic uncertainty, Toyoda crowed that people are “finally seeing reality” on EVs. Now, the auto executive is doubling down on his bearish forecast, boldly predicting that just three in 10 cars on the road will be powered by a battery.
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“The enemy is CO2,” Toyoda said, proposing a “multi-pathway approach” that doesn’t rely on any one type of vehicle. “Customers, not regulations or politics” should make the decision on what path to rely on, he said.
The auto executive estimated that around a billion people still live in areas without electricity, which limits the appeal of a battery electric vehicle. Toyoda estimated that fully electric cars will only capture 30% of the market, with the remainder taken up by hybrids or vehicles that use hydrogen technology.
At this point the dude is just grasping for anything that will to justify the stupid business decisions that he’s made. 30% is a shit load, and something a sane business person would be excited about trying to capture.
Before nepotism appointed him to CEO, the company launched the Prius. That thing was exciting and innovative when it came out.
Under his leadership the Prius brand became a synonym for boredom, he relinquished Toyota’s electric powertrain lead to other manufacturers, and the brand produced a lot of uninspired vehicles in general.
This guy was at the helm during the years of Toyota’s decline. Forgive me if I don’t pay any attention to him.
68I feel like I'm taking crazy pills - wasn't Toyota all up in the news recently about its new battery technology that was going to revolutionize EVs? Why yes, yes it was.
16He's clearly aware of the "magic gas" cheat that allows infinite additional fossil fuel to be harvested from the map.
Edit: Or he's confident that Hydrogen will pick up the slack.
12He's still pissed their early collaboration with Tesla yielded nothing but a new competitor.
10I haven't bought an EV (or any other car) because I'm waiting for a car manufacturer to make the car I want in a plug in variant of some kind (also less telematics). Who doesn't want to be their own gas station--self sufficient with Solar, anyone?
Get your shit together, car industry. Especially you Toyota.
6Booooooooooooooooooooo
5But don't worry, they're "too big to fail". They'll get bailout after bailout until they can stand on their own again after a transition made far more painful by their foot dragging. So in the end it's the Japanese tax payer that will foot the bill.
3Seems fair enough. I can imagine "first world" countries having much more than a 30% ev adoption rate especially in cities. For everywhere else though alot of the infrastructure that EVs rely on (power grids, electric charging stations, specialist mechanics, hell even well maintained roads) just doesn't exist in a large enough capacity. For an international company like Toyota probably does make sense not to go all in on ev's but to have a sizable fleet of both types of vehicles for all markets.
-1Wait so you’re telling me over priced cars aren’t going to take over? Wow color me surprised.
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