Regarding the Contribution of Electric Vehicles, Toyota Boss: Be Sure It's Only 30 Percent

JAKARTA - The global automotive industry is increasingly moving towards fully electric vehicles (EV). However, manufacturers such as Toyota believe that EVs will not contribute much to the vehicle market share.

It was Akio Toyoda, as Chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation who said that. He believes that the share of electric cars will only reach a maximum of 30 percent of the total, the rest will be taken up by hybrids, hydrogen fuel cells (FCEV) and internal fuel cars (ICE).

Toyoda believes that limiting consumer choices and making their mobility needs more expensive than usual is not a solution in a sustainable ecosystem in the automotive world.

"Consumers should make decisions, not regulations or politics," said the grandson of the company founder, quoted by Bloomberg, Thursday, January 25.

The man known as 'Morizo' or 'Master Driver', added that the combustion engine will always be around considering that the growth of electric vehicles is currently slow.

"ICE engines will definitely remain," stressed Toyoda.

This statement from a 67 year old man is not just talk. Unlike competitors who only focus on electrification, Toyota as an automotive company is currently implementing a 'multi-path' strategy by providing various alternative choices for consumers in choosing their mobility needs, such as hybrid, hydrogen fuel cell, EV and ICE.

Nevertheless, the company still has a target of selling 1.5 million Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) per year by 2026, then increasing to 3.5 million vehicles by 2030.

Toyota will also develop solid-state batteries which will arrive in 2027 and 2028. It is stated that this technology can make BEVs travel more than 1,000 km when the battery is fully charged.