By: Michael Argenta
September 19, 2021
Tesla. Ford. General Motors. Volkswagen. Toyota. While relatively late to the game, Toyota Motor Corporation (TM) plans to spend $9 billion over the next decade to build factories for manufacturing electric vehicle (EV) batteries.
For years, the world’s #1 automaker didn’t believe fully electric vehicles helped climate or pollution concerns because batteries "were expensive" or "took too long to charge." Instead, Toyota pioneered hybrid gas-electric vehicles, which they viewed as the better option. However, the company has been pressured to focus on EVs due to stricter emission regulations and competition in vehicle sales.
Toyota plans to build these factories around the world, promoting the likelihood of having 80% of its vehicles using battery power by 2030. While most of these would be hybrids, Toyota plans to sell 2 million fully electric cars annually by then. The first of Toyota’s fully electric vehicles, the bZ4X SUV will be sold starting in 2022.
Toyota’s Chief Technology Officer, Masahiko Maeda, wants to provide customers “with a continued combination of safety, price, and performance.” In addition, Maeda wants Toyota’s EV batteries to retain 90% of their charging capacity after 10 years of use. If the company can reach this standard, Toyota’s electric vehicles will be hard to beat.