Australia’s most popular auto brand details its electrification strategy, including even more hybrids
Toyota has come under scrutiny for its relatively slow rollout of electric vehicles, which it has long said are not the only answer to reducing automotive CO2 levels, but now the Japanese brand has come out swinging by announcing it will launch “at least” three EVs in Australia by the end of 2026 – and that more than half of the vehicles it sells annually will be electrified by 2025.
As we know, Toyota Australia’s EV rollout will be led by the Toyota bZ4X mid-size electric SUV, which is due in local showrooms late this year, but the bulk of its electrified vehicle sales will be accounted for by its ever-popular and ever-increasing array of hybrid models.
Self-charging petrol-electric hybrid technology is presently the only form of electrification Toyota makes available to Australians and hybrids accounted for 31.5 per cent (72,815) of the brand’s 231,050 sales in 2022.
However, Toyota Australia’s sales, marketing and franchise operations vice-president Sean Hanley today said various other technologies will contribute towards its mid-decade electrification goal.
It’s possible that could include a diesel-electric hybrid version of the new Toyota Prado, but which EVs follow the bZ4X – an all-electric alternative to Australia’s most popular SUV, the RAV4 – on sale here remains anyone’s guess.
Australia’s number one auto brand, which like Volkswagen is aiming for local EV market leadership from a non-existent base, says its EV roll-out to the end of 2026 may not be limited to three models.
At least five electric bZ models are under development and Toyota Australia has confirmed it is considering a smaller electric SUV based on the bZ Compact SUV Concept (pictured) revealed in November, but it is not one of the three confirmed EVs.
The Toyota bZ3 sedan has also been revealed and a mid-size electric pick-up was previously teased in concept form, however, this model is more likely to materialise closer to the end of the decade once the next-generation Toyota HiLux has launched and established itself by 2025.
“Toyota is committed to bringing electric vehicles to Australia,” said Hanley today, before declaring it would take “many years for the significant challenges facing EVs” like inadequate charging infrastructure, battery material shortages and certain customer requirements (ie: towing) “to be overcome”.
“That’s why it’s just too early – and too risky for the environment and for our customers – to put all our eggs in the electric-vehicle basket.
“Toyota will therefore maintain our strategy of deploying as many technologies as possible – battery EVs where they are most appropriate and other electrified powertrains where that makes the best use of scarce battery cells.”
Hanley went on to reveal all forms of electrification were on the cards going forward and that every model within Toyota Australia’s product range would include at least one electrified variant (besides the GR performance models) by 2030 – the same deadline Toyota’s global HQ has set for the rollout of 30 dedicated EVs.
But even with just three EVs on the horizon for Australia at the moment, the brand’s dealers are pouring $20 million into the installation of charging facilities at their premises “to ‘support the sale and service of customer EVs”.
“Our dealers will have a mix of AC and fast-charging DC outlets in prime metropolitan and regional sites as well as smaller locations across the country, ensuring they deliver the best possible customer experience for Toyota EV owners,” Hanley said.
The first stage of this plan is already underway and involves 232 sites around the country – all of which will be completed by the time the bZ4X arrives in dealerships in the fourth quarter of 2023.
For everything you auto know about EVs, listen to carsales’ Watts Under the Bonnet: the electric car podcast
Join the conversation at our Facebook page Or email us at [email protected]
Keyword: Three Toyota EVs coming to Oz in the next three years