Toyota is apparently having trouble making the transition to electric vehicles and is considering making significant modifications to its EV plans in response to Tesla’s production approach. On the other hand, it may delay some of its current plans for electric vehicles.
We have been covering Toyota’s failure to keep up with the transition to battery-powered electric vehicles for years. Instead, the carmaker is famous for (naively) putting resources towards hydrogen fuel cell and hybrid automobiles.
Despite saying last year that it will bring 30 battery EV models to market by 2030, Toyota has remained very critical of going all-in in battery-electric vehicles. Even though Toyota’s EV strategy has only been known for a year, the company is allegedly planning a substantial rework.
Reuters reported: According to four sources familiar with Toyota’s evolving intentions, the company is rethinking its electric-car strategy in order to better compete in a rising industry it has been sluggish to enter.
Reportedly, Toyota has a working group contemplating major changes to its EV platforms that would rethink its EV strategy.
Some EV projects apparently halt development as they await a decision expected early in the new year.
Even while Toyota didn’t directly address Reuters’ claims, the company did offer commentary:
Toyota’s in-house technology, in addition to our collaborative efforts with a wide variety of partners and suppliers, are crucial to our goal of achieving carbon neutrality.
The article states that Tesla “winning the manufacturing cost wars on EVs” is a contributing cause to Toyota’s decision to reevaluate its EV initiative, which is being headed by Shigeki Terashiwas.
According to reports, Toyota was taken aback by Tesla’s innovative use of manufacturing technology, such as the “giga press” that allows the Texas automaker to produce larger casting parts. Efficiency in production is the result.
In the words of one of the Toyota insiders quoted in the article, Mr. Terashi is motivated by the electric vehicle market’s unexpectedly rapid growth and the lightning-fast adoption of cutting-edge advancements by Tesla and others.
The car industry has always regarded Toyota as a manufacturing frontrunner. Even if Tesla’s production has taken some hits in the past, the business is quickly becoming a frontrunner in the EV revolution.
Tesla is now capable of producing millions of long-range electric vehicles at a gross margin that leads the industry.
The article claims that Toyota is gathering notes in order perhaps to create a new EV platform from the bottom up. In addition to being motivated to make changes to its EV strategy by Tesla, Toyota has been motivated to do so by the failure of its single battery-electric car program in the United States.
Because of many safety recalls, Toyota pulled the plug on sales of the bZ4X electric SUV.
Final Take
It’s not all good news. I think other automakers, especially long-standing ones like Toyota, may learn a thing or two about mass production electric vehicles from Tesla’s experience. If Toyota is indeed working to better its own electric vehicle platform, then this is welcome news.
It appears, however, that this will delay several ongoing Toyota electric vehicle (EV) projects. The corporation is already behind the curve when it comes to electric vehicles; delaying existing programs that were supposed to be launched in the next few years by reworking the strategy now would be irresponsible.
Although it may be too soon to tell how successful Toyota’s EV transition will be, the firm appears to be in a state of panic after realizing it had been wrong to ignore EVs for so long.
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