TOYOTA BATTERY ELECTRIC TARGETS

Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, currently does not offer a single battery electric vehicle (BEV). Although late to the party, the Japanese auto giant now aims to rectify this anomaly.

In a recent press briefing, Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) President Akio Toyoda revealed 16 Toyota and Lexus BEV concepts that are being prepared for market launch over the next five years, including the all-new Toyota bZ4X (pronounced bee-zee-four-cross) and Lexus RZ 450e, both due in early 2022. Toyota will also launch a small BEV crossover model in Europe in late 2022.

Toyoda also announced that TMC will increase its investment in batteries from $13 billion to $17.5 billion as the company plans to roll out 30 BEV models in anticipation of global sales of 3.5 million BEVs per annum by 2030. Lexus aims to have battery electric vehicles (BEVs) account for 100% of its total sales in Europe, North America, and China, totalling one million units globally by 2030, and 100% of its global vehicle sales in 2035.

Compared to Tesla, currently the global EV leader with nearly one million sales in 2021, Toyota’s goals appear somewhat uninspiring. The time scale also seems pessimistic, especially since Tesla remains on track to achieve sales of approximately 3.5 million units by 2024, placing Tesla six years ahead of Toyota and ten years ahead of Lexus in the race to electrify the global auto fleet.

Ironically, Toyota became an early investor in Tesla when it acquired a 1.43% stake in the Silicon Valley startup for $50 million in 2010, and the companies entered into an agreement for Tesla to develop and supply batteries and electric powertrains for the Toyota RAV4 EV that was produced between 2012 and 2014. Toyota terminated the cooperation agreement and divested from Tesla in 2016, selling its shares for approximately $500 million and realising a handsome profit of around $450 million. If Toyota had retained its 1.43% stake in Tesla, that investment would be worth approximately $17.5 billion today, a sufficient amount to fund Toyota’s entire investment in battery development.

Timing is everything, and Toyota’s entry into the BEV market can’t come soon enough.