Regarding The Presence Of Cheap Electric Cars, Toyota: The Cost Of Battery Baku Materials Is Still High

The concept of bZ Small Crossover. (Doc. Global Toyota)

JAKARTA - A number of large automotive manufacturers have plans to present electric cars at low prices in order to expand the market segment. In order to fulfill that, the dimensions of the car and a number of specifications including batteries need to be adjusted.

Toyota, one of them, intends to bring the successor to Aygo X with electric power in the future. However, the possibility of the presence of this model is getting smaller because the company finds several obstacles.

Reported by Autocar, Tuesday, January 16, Toyota's plan is certain not in the near future. Presenting small and cheap electric cars is still difficult to realize due to the high cost of raw materials from batteries.

Andrea Carlucci, as Director of Marketing and Product Development of Toyota Europe, said premium prices are still attached to electric vehicles (EVs) for now and he assesses that the presence of mini and affordable electric cars is not yet profitable on a large scale.

"We can't reach that level right now," Carlucci said.

But he explained that Toyota is still open to the possibility of presenting affordable electric vehicles in the future. What's more, Toyota will launch the five newest SUVs from the current period until 2026.

"I'm not saying we don't want a market there, but I'm just observing current market developments," Carlucci explained.

Meanwhile, rivals such as Volkswagen, Renault, and Kia have confirmed that they will present a compact-sized SUV as an entry-level model in the EV segment in the next two years at a price of around 25,000 or equivalent to IDR 494.8 million.