Toyota to Electrify All Its Vehicles by 2025, Introduce 10 EVs by Early 2020s

GM has said it will have 20 EVs by 2023, others are also making big claims, and now formerly reluctant Toyota says it will be in the thick of it too.

Yesterday from Japan, Toyota announced its future plans for the all-electric market. The company will accelerate its development of battery-electric vehicles, culminating with “more than 10” BEV models being available worldwide by the early 2020s. The wave will start in China before expanding to other markets with a gradual introduction in Japan, India, the United States, and Europe.

Remarkably, for all its work and success in the hybrid and plug-in hybrid segments, the company currently does not offer a single EV here in America. The short-lived RAV4 EV came and went like a summer’s breeze, the second generation of which was developed in conjunction with Tesla.

The relationship between Toyota and Tesla officially ended in August 2014 with Tesla’s fulfilment of the battery supply agreement. Based on this cooperation, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Japanese manufacturer work with an experienced EV company again to help acheive their new goals.

Toyota’s electrified vehicle strategy centers on a significant acceleration in the development and launch plans of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), batteryelectric vehicles (BEVs), and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs).

Also of note, the company stated that every model in the Toyota and Lexus line-up around the world will be available either as a dedicated electrified model or have an electrified option by 2025. This is huge news, given the depth and breadth of Toyota’s passenger car and light-truck offerings around the globe.

Toyota has long advocated that all-electric cars would remain on the fringe due to their relatively low range. This announcement changes that tune and signals a shift in the thinking of management. To help solve the puzzle of EV range, Toyota and Panasonic will start a feasibility study on a joint automotive prismatic battery business.

Their shared goal is to achieve the best automotive prismatic battery in the industry, ultimately contributing to the popularization of electrified vehicles … and no doubt justifying the expense of developing these machines.

The announcement went on to say that by the year 2030, Toyota aims to have sales of more than 5.5 million electrified vehicles, including more than 1 million zero-emission vehicles.

Extensive experience in battery and electric motor development – through hybrids, natch – will give the company a head start on this project. Currently, Toyota is careful to slip the word electric into everything in its Prius line, from the compact Prius c billed as a hybrid-electric to the PriusPrime as a plug-in hybrid electric. The startling Mirai is hyped as a fuel-cell electric vehicle.

Thanks to these machines, and their forebears, Toyota sales of electrified vehicles have reached more than 11 million units worldwide to date.