Amid the hype over electric vehicles – even though they currently represent less than 1 per cent of Australian new-car sales – market leader Toyota says governments and the motoring public need to keep an open mind about increasing the number of low-emissions vehicles on the nation’s roads.
While electric car sales have surged overseas, Australia represents unique geographical challenges and vehicle requirements.
Now Toyota Australia – the market leader for the past 19 years in a row, and which last year accounted for one in four of all new motor vehicles sold – has warned governments to not leave the motoring masses behind amid the push for more electric vehicles.
Toyota Australia has sold almost 250,000 hybrid cars over the past 20 years – with almost half of those delivered in the past two years alone.
The emissions of Toyota hybrid vehicles amount to roughly half those of an equivalent petrol-powered car.
But Toyota says the advantages of hybrid vehicles appear to have been lost amid the hype over electric cars.
Hybrid vehicles use an electric motor to move the car from a standstill – the thirstiest element of commuter driving – before the petrol motor takes over, and don’t need to be plugged in because the onboard battery pack automatically recharges when the vehicle is braking or coasting downhill.
“Hybrid-electric vehicles are affordable, they’re available in substantial numbers, they’re convenient with no range anxiety, and they’re practical,” said Sean Hanley, the sales and marketing boss of Toyota Australia during a media briefing about las year’s new-car sales. “They also make a significant contribution to cutting the amount of carbon that goes into the atmosphere.”
Toyota says it is not turning its back on electric cars – it recently announced it will launch 15 electric vehicles by the end of 2025 alongside 55 new or updated hybrid vehicles.
However, the company says it is important not to leave the motoring masses behind – and to make sure there is an emissions-reduction alternative for all types of vehicles.
“Toyota is not limited to a single technical solution when addressing carbon emissions, with a diverse range of technologies available that will contribute to reaching net-zero emissions,” said Mr Hanley. “And we understand our responsibility to ensuring we take everyone on the journey, leaving no-one behind.”
The president and CEO of Toyota Australia Matthew Callachor said, according to its calculations, the 242,000 hybrid cars sold by Toyota over the past 20 years have had “the same impact on reducing CO2 as approximately 72,000 battery-electric vehicles.”
“Yet the volume of batteries we’ve used to produce these hybrid-electric vehicles is the same as we’d need for just 3500 (electric cars),” said Mr Callachor. “In other words, we can say that the batteries needed for 3500 (electric cars) have been used to achieve the CO2 emissions reduction effect of 72,000 (electric cars).”
During the impassioned speech, Mr Callachor said: “It’s vital that people understand those facts because, when we’re addressing climate change, carbon is the enemy. And hybrid-electric vehicles are an extremely effective way of reducing carbon emissions today – and doing so at an affordable price.”
Toyota Japan says it will invest almost $25 billion globally between now and 2030 to make hybrid and electric-car batteries “smaller, lighter, more powerful, faster charging, more durable and cheaper.”
“But we also believe that the way to reduce more carbon emissions, sooner, is to employ diverse solutions,” said Mr Callachor.
“Australians have vastly different circumstances and different needs, from inner cities to rural outback Australia. Such diverse circumstances call for diverse solutions, acknowledging that customers will ultimately choose what they want and what best suits their motoring needs.”
Translated: it means Toyota is still committed to producing conventional diesel-powered vehicles like the Toyota HiLux ute and Toyota LandCruiser four-wheel-drive for those who need it. But those vehicles, too, will eventually be available with the option of hybrid or electric power, where such applications are suitable.
Aiming to dispel some myths about electric cars – which rely on the mining of precious metals to make their battery packs – Toyota outlined further reasons why there needs to be a broader approach to low emissions vehicles.
“If you’re recharging a 400km (electric-car) every night for an average round-trip commute of around 40 kilometres, then you’re not getting any carbon benefit from 90 per cent of the battery cells,” said Mr Callachor.
“If we put those unused batteries to use in other electrified vehicles, we could prevent far more carbon from entering the atmosphere.”
The broader outlook and outspoken comments by the normally secretive and conservative Toyota has been welcomed by industry analysts who fear there is too much focus on electric cars as a way of reducing vehicle emissions.
While it is very much in vogue to preach the benefits of electric cars, they are forever tied to energy supply, more than 70 per cent off which comes from coal in Australia.
“Even if the best choice for the average person someday becomes (an electric car), it will not be the best way for every person to reduce carbon emissions,” said Mr Callachor.
“Distributing every battery cell so that we get the maximum benefit means putting them into appropriate electrified vehicles including hybrid-electric, plug-in-hybrid-electric, and (hydrogen-electric) vehicles, not just into a smaller number of (pure electric cars).”
The Toyota executive added: “A diversity of drivetrains and fuel sources is the best approach, scientifically and practically. We have a strong drive to help the environment as much as we can.”
Of the 70 new or updated hybrid and electric hybrid cars to be introduced by Toyota globally by the end of 2025, the Toyota executive said: “For Australia, we will consider all these vehicles and introduce them as appropriate, recognising the different practical needs and varying locations of our customers.”
“We are putting immense resources towards discovering the best carbon-neutral solutions for the future, while helping our diverse customers contribute to reducing as much carbon as possible today,” said Mr Callachor. “The environmental stakes for all of us are too high to get it wrong by focusing on too few possibilities.”
The post Toyota: Electric cars not for everyone, hybrids deliver emissions reductions to the masses appeared first on Drive.
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