Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world. It ranks among the top in global market sales and has a wide range of products. However, in the field of electric vehicles, people usually use words such as conservative and cautious to describe Toyota. Toyota seems to be focusing more on hybrid models and has been hesitant on pure electric models.
This situation is finally about to change. At Toyota’s electric vehicle strategy conference yesterday (June 7), Toyota clarified its electrification rhythm: it will change the strategy formulated two years ago (2017). The plan is to speed up the process by 5 years and achieve 5.5 million new energy vehicles by 2025, 5 years ahead of schedule (original plan was 2030). Toyota is really going to work hard.
Radical target: 5.5 million vehicles
Such a radical target goes against Toyota’s conservative approach to electric vehicles. What are its plans? Let’s look at some specific numbers first. The 5.5 million vehicles are composed of 4.5 million hybrid electric vehicles (HEV for short) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV for short), 1 million pure electric vehicles (EV for short) and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCEV for short).
When you see these two figures, you will understand that the focus is on the next 1 million vehicles. Because with Toyota's current production capacity, as long as it continues to increase the production proportion of HEV and PHEV models and reasonably controls the selling price (for example, the price of Toyota dual-engine models in China is not expensive), 4.5 million HEV and PHEV models are not feasible. Difficult to achieve. Therefore, EV and FCEV are Toyota’s biggest challenges next.
The core factors accelerating this pace are, on the one hand, the continuous maturation of battery technology, which can truly meet the needs of daily driving mileage, and of course, the upgrading of emission policies in various countries around the world. Toyota has also made it clear that the 5.5 million vehicle data is not an ambition of the company, but a reasonable answer to current policies. The real challenge remains: whether it can create EV models that consumers will accept and like.
Achieve more than 10 EV models in the world by 2025
Toyota hopes to take specific measures in terms of EV models in several steps: launch the pure electric Toyota C in China next year (2020) -HR and Yize are still the first steps in the global EV plan. Later, Toyota and Lexus brands will launch EV models in Japan, India, the United States, and Europe in sequence, and by 2025, there will be more than 10 EV models in the world.
In terms of the layout of EV models, Toyota has also given a clear plan: to launch 2-4-seater ultra-small EV models in Japan, mainly used for short-distance travel needs; in fact, this type of models and Japan's current K-CAR models have many similarities, and it is unclear whether they will be able to replace part of the K-CAR market in the future.
Cooperate with Subaru to develop a new electric vehicle platform e-TNGA
The second step is to launch EVs that meet market demand in China, the United States and other countries, such as the 2020 GAC Toyota C-HR and FAW Toyota Yize (IOZA) will both launch pure electric models. However, the role of these two products should be pioneers, because Toyota has planned to cooperate with Subaru to develop a dedicated platform for EV models, e-TNGA.
This platform is based on a medium-sized SUV. The width of the front and rear motors, battery pack and the position of the motor relative to the wheels are fixed, while the wheelbase, wheelbase, body length, width and height can be flexibly adjusted. Previous platform concepts and even modular concepts were more flexible. It can realize various drive modes such as front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, and four-wheel drive. In layman's terms, as long as the body reaches a certain size and can accommodate the entire system, there are no other restrictions.
The third step is to cooperate with BYD, CATL and other companies in the fields of batteries, motors, electronic controls, etc. to accelerate the research and development of high-performance, long-life batteries and establish a battery supply to meet the rapid growth of electric vehicles. system.
In April this year, Toyota announced that it would open more than 20,000 core electrification technology-related patents for free, covering almost the entire power part of the hybrid system. It also stated that companies in need can apply to Toyota and discuss it together. Sign the contract after specifying the implementation conditions.
Create a more complete and value-guaranteed electric vehicle system
In fact, the current electric vehicles are still not perfect enough, and I believe everyone is well aware of this. In addition to the ongoing range anxiety, there are also many issues such as safety, reliability, and residual value that need to be resolved. Facing the prosperous market for electric vehicles driven by many policies, Toyota mentioned many times in its press conference that it wants to create products that consumers like. I think this is the core value of the new EV plan, and this is also Toyota's strength. In terms of batteries, Toyota already has battery-related experience in 13 million HEV models. This is valuable experience and will definitely be used in the development of EV models.
Another problem with electric vehicles occurs after purchase. Many users know that the residual value will no longer exist after a few years of use, but they have to bite the bullet and solve the current problem. This will undoubtedly bring difficulties to the development of electric vehicles and users. Very bad impact on perception. At present, most companies that produce EV models only focus on the production and sales links, and do not involve the more important links of user use or even secondary purchases. This is also one of the important reasons why consumers question electric vehicle companies. Toyota obviously sees Here comes the question.
In Toyota's business model, user needs are addressed not only by improving the performance of EV models, but also by improving the role of EV models as commodities through purchase/lease forms, second-hand EV model services, battery recycling and reuse, etc. dignity. And corresponding services such as charging and insurance.
Hydrogen fuel cells will still develop vigorously
However, FCEV is indeed a good complement to EV models. For example, in winter use environments, FCEV will be closer to the performance of ordinary fuel vehicles. There is also a foreshadowing here: In fact, Toyota brought a hydrogen fuel cell version of Coaster at the 2019 Shanghai National Auto Show. Based on Toyota’s in-depth cooperative relationship with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, will it be used at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics? What about a hydrogen fuel cell version of Coaster? 2025 is not far away, and 2020 and 2022 are just around the corner. I look forward to Toyota bringing surprises one after another.