Toyota unveils battery electric vehicle initiatives, aims for a commercial solid-state battery by 2027 – EQ Mag
Japan-based auto manufacturer Toyota has announced that it will introduce high-performance, solid-state batteries and other technologies to improve the range and performance and to cut costs of its electric vehicles.
The company aims for a commercial solid-state battery as soon as 2027. It seeks to win over customers by offering vehicles with quicker charging times and longer driving range.
“With the evolution of the vehicle’s operating system, the next-generation battery EV will also enable customization of the driving feel,’ with a focus on acceleration, turning and stopping,” it said.
The announcement comes a day before Toyota’s annual shareholders meeting where strategy and governance will be discussed. Toyota President Koji Sato has said the company must play catchup after falling behind in the EV sector. The car maker’s stock was up 4.45% at 2,161 yen on Tuesday.
In an official statement, the automaker said it would produce an EV with a more efficient lithium-ion battery which would have a range of 1,000 km (621 miles). To compare, the long-range version of the Tesla Model Y which is also the world’s best-selling EV, can drive for about 530 km.
Toyota did not disclose expected costs or place of manufacture of its new long-range EV, nor did it state where it would make the next-generation solid-state batteries.
“What we want to achieve is to change the future with BEVs,” Takero Kato, president of new Toyota EV unit BEV Factory, said in a video posted on the automaker’s YouTube channel on Tuesday.
“We will launch the next-generation battery EVs globally and as a full lineup on the market from 2026,” Kato said.
Toyota also detailed other technologies that it plans to deploy to reduce costs for its EVs and batteries. The company said that it has pledged to use a “self-propelling” assembly line and Giga casting to cut production costs, adopting a production innovation pioneered by U.S. EV leader Tesla.
Toyota, which makes the Prius hybrid, Camry sedan and Lexus luxury models, is also working on second-generation biofuels. Biofuels, such as ethanol, are considered more renewable than fossil fuels though they have other drawbacks.
BEV Factory, established in May, aims to produce about 1.7 million vehicles by 2030, Kato said – about half of the 3.5 million EVs Toyota aims to sell annually by that year.
In April, the automaker sold 8,584 EVs worldwide, including under its Lexus brand, accounting for more than 1% of its global sales in a single month for the first time.
Source: PTI
