Toyota pulls forward electrification plan, eyes solid-state battery next year

[freemexy]

Toyota pulls forward electrification plan, eyes solid-state battery next year

Toyota is ramping up electric vehicle deployment plans, pulling forward its goal of selling 5.5 million electrified vehicles by five years and aiming to develop a solid-state battery by next summer as it races to meet a "sudden surge" of EV popularization.Wireless Charger on car

Toyota now aims to sell some 5.5 million traditional gasoline-electric hybrids, plug-in hybrids, EVs and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles by 2025. Nearly 1 million of them could be pure EVs.

Executive Vice President Shigeki Terashi, Toyota's r&d chief, outlined the new roadmap in a June 7 briefing about the company's EV plans. In December 2017, the company had said it wanted to sell that many electrified vehicles by 2030, five years later than the revised outlook.

Terashi added that the company wants to unveil a solid-state battery for electrified vehicles ahead of next year's Summer Olympics in Tokyo. The technology, which promises lighter, more powerful and safer batteries, could be a breakthrough in popularizing electric vehicles.

"Wanting to make an effort is not enough. You really should be able to deliver," Terashi said."If possible, by the time we have the Olympic games next year, we would like to make sure that a solid-state battery can be unveiled to the public," Terashi said.Indeed, Terashi cited a "sudden surge" in their popularization for revising the EV rollout."Progress has surpassed the target," Terashi said. "We have entered a new age."

Toyota is ramping up its EV development plans, partly in response to increasingly stringent emissions requirements in China and Europe. It plans to start making EVs in China next year on its way to releasing as least 10 BEVs (battery-powered models) worldwide by the early 2020s.

Toyota will not be abandoning the trademark hybrid technology pioneered in the Prius. It also aims to have electrified versions of every model in the Toyota and Lexus lineups by 2025.But EVs have taken on fresh priority. As part of the new plan, Toyota plans to introduce an ultra-compact, two-seat EV in Japan in 2020. It will have a range of 100 kilometers (62 miles).