Toyota New Zealand's low emission future

Tuesday, 8 June 2021

Fast-forward to 2035: the Government of the day has made good on the mandate to ban the sale of wholly fossil-fuelled vehicles.

Which of the following remains relevant - hybrid, plug-in hybrid, fuel cell, pure electric? Based on current attitude, public sentiment and government will, many would well say… just the last.

That’s a concern to Toyota New Zealand’s chief executive, who holds that all four will have a highly relevant role. While he doesn’t disagree that wholesale battery electric is the obvious end game, Neeraj Lala is worried by expectation often being expressed about how quickly and seamlessly this transition can occur. Even in today’s environment we’re expecting too much, too soon.

So, even though Toyota here will soon be in the electric car business – by year-end with a Lexus, the UX300e, and next year with a Toyota (currently being called bZ4X), with others to follow – this brand has reservations about electric being a ‘quick fix’ solution. It isn’t in the here and now, and it won’t be for many tomorrows to come.

“From our end it is a very dangerous approach,” says Lala about contention electric is already an all-round panacea.

**READ MORE:

* First drive review: Toyota Highlander

* Hydrogen cars and their future in New Zealand

* Toyota Mirai hydrogen car is a nerd no more

* Are we finally accepting hybrids?

**

Yes, there’s no doubt that believes zero emissions vehicles (ZEVs) – that is those that emit no exhaust smut - will become the new mainstream over the next two decades.

However, while “practical and sustainable solutions will come, they are not going to be available all at the same time.”

This is why Lala believes questions need also be raised about New Zealand’s readiness for wholesale EV implementation, particularly beyond 2025, when tough government requirements to reduce CO2 emissions will impact.

“The next chapter of our road to carbon neutrality spans the next nine years. Pure battery electric powertrains have always been on our long-term strategy (but) with considerable debate on the speed of introduction.

“We (Toyota) are preparing to stay ahead of the trend to carbon neutrality by introducing 16 new electrified vehicles over the next five years, including at least six zero-emission products.

“From a product and technology perspective Toyota will be ready. But to really achieve this target, and move us all closer to carbon neutrality, the infrastructures need to accelerate.”

An eco-car is an eco-car only if it is widely used and contributes to CO2 reduction where the source of refuelling has been from a sustainable supply. So until infrastructures develop, until solutions for sustainable and ethical raw-material supply are found and until technology costs fully reduce “it’s important to continue to offer low carbon solutions.”

“I also believe that battery technology still needs innovation, but when there is a breakthrough, the shift to ZEVs will be significantly (more) rapid than the adoption of hybrids, and BEVs (battery electric vehicles) will eventually become a practical and affordable form of mobility for all.”

In the meantime, then, “we need solutions that customers want, not that Government dictates. It’s unfair to say to customers ‘you have to do this’. In some cases they could do it, but in some they cannot.

“Each customer has a different use and practicality (for a vehicle). If we fail to achieve this our customers will no longer choose our cars.

“It is necessary for people to be able to use our products practically in any environment, such as areas where even the supply of electricity is unstable or where the climate conditions are harsh.

“Globally we have said our intent is to provide solutions for all outcomes. We’re not one of those companies that has said it will put all its eggs into one basket. We’re investing in everything.”

Hence TNZ has a broader view about the kinds of drivetrain technologies that will remain relevant for a long time yet. Hybrids, for instance.

Regardless that it requires continued allegiance to Big Oil, hybrid - a cornerstone technology Toyota unleashed with the first Prius and one where it holds world leadership - has much to offer for many years yet.

As ‘lite’ as that route will seem to EV acolytes, fact is cars that are electric-assisted, but not actually electric by definition (through lacking a vital ingredient of any means to mains replenish), are cost-effective, doing a valid job for efficiency and certainly resonating with Kiwis. Here one in three new Toyotas are now in this format and last year’s registrations count of 8134 hybrid cars was a TNZ record.

This technology alone, Lala says, is why TNZ achieves the best national CO2 fleet average among fossil fuel vehicle providers, with more improvement coming. The 105 grams per kilometre average intended to be implemented in 2025 will be achieved without influence from the electric Toyota and Lexus cars it will have by then.

So, hybrids are keeping on. What else?

New Zealand is soon to meet the Mirai, Toyota’s hydrogen fuel cell car.

Metropolitan Auckland will soon become a regular beat for the model, with corporates with interest in fossil fuel-evading technology set to be invited to try it in fleet use, under a car-sharing mantle.

TNZ is starting with a pair of first generation cars it has held in storage for several years, but that’s just a taster. The programme itself centres around the latest edition.

TNZ hopes to secure up to a dozen of these and lease them for fleet use, particularly in a car-sharing role, as has happened elsewhere. Cost? Yet to be disclosed, but we can perhaps look to Australia, where a 36 month, 60,000km agreement, which includes fuel, works out at $NZ67,000.

Setting aside the pros and cons of going hydrogen – and one biggie is supply (one reason why this is happening in our largest city; Ports of Auckland has hydrogen supply) - the car will be a fascination.

Fuel cell cars are electric car at heart, but the electricity they use is developed on-board, through a chemical process, electrolysis. This converts hydrogen gas held under high pressure into electrical energy, with no tailpipe emissions. The latest Mirai has a 134kW/300Nm electric motor on the rear axle, driven by a 128kW 330-cell polymer electrolyte fuel-cell stack, three hydrogen storage tanks (offering 5.6kg combined), and a 1.2kWh lithium-ion battery, for a maximum driving range of around 650km.

Consideration of potential applicants is under way and feedback has been positive, Lala says.

“A number of them are looking at sustainable ways of better using their fleets, including car sharing concepts that will work for this.”

The fuel a hot topic, being expensive and not easily available. Fuel cell vehicles are more expensive than like-sized EVs, which themselves are often criticised for being too pricey for general use, and just three car brands – Hyundai and Honda being the others – have put FCEVs into production.

Yet there is domestic support. NZ is well-placed to create hydrogen from a variety of domestic resources, spanning from reformation from natural gas, a fossil fuel but still a healthy resource here, to creating it from renewable power like solar, wind, hydro and geothermal.