The Toyota Prius hybrid was a key player in the electrification of the car, but now the company’s President claims that full EVs are overhyped.
Speaking at a news conference for the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Akio Toyoda, Toyota President and grandson of the company’s founder, Kiichiro Toyoda, claimed Japan would run out of electricity in the summer if every vehicle on the road was battery-powered.
The comments from the Toyota boss, a renowned petrol head who has raced at the Nürburgring 24 Hours and supported the development of the acclaimed GR Yaris and incredible LFA supercar, come hot on the heels of an announcement that Japan was looking to ban sales of internal combustion engined cars in 2035.
Toyoda said EVs were expensive and claimed the cost of creating the infrastructure needed to support a transition to electric powered transport would cost up to $358 billion (£477bn).
“When politicians are out there saying, ‘Let’s get rid of all cars using gasoline,’ do they understand this?” Toyoda questioned, adding that “the current business model of the car industry is going to collapse” with the loss of millions of jobs if the industry shifts to EV too quickly.
Toyoda even claimed that a mass switch to electric power might not help the environment as much as people believe because Japan gets most of its electricity from burning coal and natural gas. “The more EVs we build, the worse carbon dioxide gets,” he claimed.
Despite being at the forefront of both hybrid and hydrogen fuel cell technology for almost 25 years, Toyota has been slow to embrace full EV cars. But the company is investing heavily in electrification, including the development of advanced solid-state batteries, and plans to shift 1m fully electric cars before 2030.
Keyword: Toyota boss says electric vehicles are overhyped