Toyota’s late move

Adel Murad

Toyota has long touted hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and plug-in hybrids as the most sensible technology to make cars greener. It even sold its shares in Tesla believing that the company was not a good long-term investment. These strategies have now been reversed as electric vehicles (EV) gain traction as the most viable future technology in motoring powertrains.
Toyota is now working on an EV powered by a solid-state battery that significantly increases driving range and reduces charging time. According to a Japanese newspaper report, the car will start selling in Japan in 2022.
The Chunichi Shimbon daily reported that the vehicle will have a new platform and will rely on a solid-state battery allowing it to be recharged in a few minutes. Current EVs use lithium ion batteries that need 30 minutes to recharge and have a range of 300 to 400 km.
Nissan, which earlier took the electric route, is now leading the market with Leaf, while Tesla is building market share fast. Toyota would have to leapfrog these market leaders in order to get a slice of the action. Market analysts believe there is a long distance to cover between lab and bench testing, and manufacturing.
One good sign is that Toyota is jumping to solid-state batteries which are the next development in battery technology. They are safer than lithium ion and take less time to recharge. BMW is working to develop these batteries for mass production in the next decade.
Toyota is also planning to mass produce a EV in China as early as 2019, but the model would be based on the existing CH-R crossover and use lithium ion batteries.
Toyota made the wrong bet years ago by dismissing EVs as a way forward. The strategy made sense at the time while Carlos Ghosn was out on his own with Nissan calling for electrification. Now Nissan has Leaf as a best-selling EV, GM has Bolt while Toyota has none.
Toyota made a late move but at least it is a step in the right direction.
• Adel Murad is a senior motoring and business journalist based in London.