Toyota Hits Back At Critics: Consumers Set Pace Of Electrification

Toyota is responding to critics who say it has been slow to adopt battery electric vehicles, arguing that customer choice dictates the pace of electrification.

At its annual general meeting on June 15, the Japanese giant said that it needs to offer a variety of car choices for different markets and customers and that it will stick with technologies including fuel cell vehicles and hybrids.

"The goal is carbon neutrality," Toyota's Chief Technology Officer Masahiko Maeda said during the meeting according to Reuters, adding that "customers need to choose" in order to popularize electric cars that include plug-in hybrids. Consumers should have a variety of options available and the automaker should not narrow those down, he said.

The comments were made in reply to questions submitted by Danish pension fund AkademikerPension, which also asked Toyota to refrain from lobbying to undermine the transition to battery electric vehicles.

Gallery: 2023 Toyota bZ4X in US specification

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Toyota argues that hybrids still make sense in markets where the infrastructure is not ready to support a faster move to battery electric vehicles. The carmaker is also exploring the viability of green fuels for internal combustion engine cars, including hydrogen.

Toyota's pragmatic approach to decarbonization is at odds with environmental groups’ call for immediate action. Once a favorite with environmentalists for the hybrid Prius it launched more than two decades ago, Toyota has been criticized by some investors for refusing to phase out gasoline-powered cars and its lobbying on climate policy.

Still, the Japanese automaker has been working to slash greenhouse gas emissions from the vehicle production stage and last year committed to spending $60 billion by 2030 to electrify its cars. 

While half of that amount is for the development of fully electric vehicles, Toyota expects annual sales of such cars to reach only 3.5 million vehicles by the end of the decade, or around a third of current sales.

Toyota recently launched its first mass-produced all-electric vehicle, the bZ4X compact SUV, co-developed with Subaru. In the US, the 2023 Toyota bZ4X starts at $42,000 before a delivery, processing and handling fee of $1,215 and applicable state and federal incentives. Toyota's Lexus arm will also introduce the all-electric 2023 RZ450e later this year. 

Read more about Toyota's cautious approach to electrification

Toyota CEO: Going All-EV Could Cost Japan Millions Of Jobs

Akio Toyoda Makes It Clear He's Not Happy About The EV Revolution