Toyota had become a target for activists and green investors who considered it slow to roll out EVs. Still, EVs are just one element in Toyota’s multi-pathway approach to carbon neutrality that includes gasoline-electric hybrids and hydrogen fuel cells.
The Japanese company has said its approach is more effective in reducing carbon emissions and more practical because consumer needs, EV infrastructure and clean energy supply differ by country.
Its top scientist, Gill Pratt, told shareholders the best way to reduce carbon as much as possible and as soon as possible is to have diverse solutions.
The road map showed that under new CEO Koji Sato, who succeeded Toyoda — the founder’s grandson who became chair in April — Toyota has adopted much of a revamp that engineers and planners have been developing for months.
The automaker said he was developing an EV platform to reduce costs, including an assembly line that would do away with the conveyor belt system that has defined auto production for over 100 years.
It also said it would use giga presses pioneered by EV rival Tesla, in which massive, aluminum casting machines eliminate welding to reduce vehicle complexity and cost.
Toyota aims to sell 3.5 million EVs annually by 2030. In April it sold 8,584 EVs, including under its Lexus brand, making up over 1 percent of global sales in a single month for the first time.