Toyota will add more than 10 all-electric vehicle models to its global portfolio by the early 2020s, beginning with China, as part of a broader plan to catch up to Tesla, GM, Nissan, and other automakers bringing more electric vehicles to consumers.
The 10 new all-electric vehicle models will then gradually be introduced to Japan, India, Europe, and the U.S.
The Japanese automaker has focused most of its alternative fuel efforts towards hybrids like the Toyota Prius and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles like the Toyota Mirai. This new strategy, outlined in greater detail Monday, aims to embed electrified vehicles throughout the entire portfolio of Toyota, and its Lexus brand. And it comes with considerable investment. Toyota plans to invest about $13.3 billion by 2030 into research and development of electric vehicles and batteries.
This means that by 2025 every model in the Toyota and Lexus line-up will be available either as an all-electric or another electrified option such as hybrid or plug-in electric hybrid. The company’s fuel cell electric vehicle line-up will be expanded for both passenger and commercial vehicles in the 2020s.
Toyota says it will have sales of more than 5.5 million electrified vehicles by 2030, including more than 1 million zero-emission vehicles (all-electric and fuel cell vehicles) as a result of this strategy.
Toyota said last year it planned to add all-electric vehicles to its portfolio. The company appeared to be building out the framework to that plan over the past several months. In September, Toyota established a new venture with Mazda Motor to develop electric vehicle technology for a range of electric vehicles, including SUVs, light trucks, passenger cars, and mini-vehicles.
Toyota said earlier this month it was considering jointly developing batteries for electric vehicles with Panasonic, which also supplies automaker Tesla with lithium-ion batteries. Toyota confirmed Monday that it will start a feasibility study with Panasonic on a joint battery business.