Toyota NZ excited by new EVs

Friday, 17 December 2021

Toyota Design Senior General Manager Simon Humphries on the company's new range of battery electric vehicles.

Toyota’s announcement of 30 new electric vehicles coming by 2030 has the local arm excited, with CEO Neeraj Lala saying that a full range of powertrains will be critical to achieving a low carbon economy in New Zealand.

Those vehicles include a fully electric ute, a supercar with the DNA of the mighty Lexus LFA, a new sports car rumoured to be an electric revival of the MR2, and more than a handful of sedans and SUVs.

The first fully electric Toyota to land in New Zealand will be the bZ4x RAV4-sized SUV, while Lexus’ first is the UX 300e.

This is Toyota’s upcoming electric ute. Looks good, doesn’t it?

Toyota plans to sell 3.5 million electric vehicles globally in 2030, big boss Akio Toyoda said at the reveal event, up from its earlier plan to sell 2 million zero emission hydrogen and battery electric vehicles a year worldwide by 2030. Toyota now sells about 10 million total vehicles globally a year.

**READ MORE:

Akio Toyoda standing with the upcoming EVs. See that little yellow sports car in the back row? Rumour has it, that is an electric MR2 revival.

* Toyota reveals full EV range, including a ute

* Toyota boss doesn't expect Government to change position on emissions targets

Toyota’s first EV will be the bZ4x, due here next year.

* Toyota spending $19.3 billion to secure EV battery supplies

“The announcement by Akio Toyoda this week supports these messages and the recommendations we have been proposing to key Government officials. We have maintained that hybrids will continue to spearhead our transition in the short-term,” Lala said.

“However, the announcement this week also demonstrates how serious we are in the expansion of BEVs. Most importantly, the investment and direction state our commitment to achieving carbon neutrality.”

“We will work hard to identify when supply will be available, ensure the models we introduce are affordable for kiwis, and most critically achieve the Toyota safety standards our customers have come to expect from our brand,” he added.

The electrification journey for Toyota has been happening for more than 30 years, Lala said, with the local arm hitting a new record for hybrid deliveries in 2021, delivering more than 11,000 electrified vehicles.

That 3.5 million goal is a baseline as well. Toyoda said the Lexus luxury brand will become fully electric by 2035 globally, and 2030 for the U.S., European and Chinese markets.

Toyota has been criticised for being slow to respond to the need for pure-electric vehicles, and this latest announcement is the company showing its determination to change that view.

It is putting 2 trillion yen (NZ$26.1 billion) into battery research and development, up from the 1.5 trillion yen (NZ$19.5 billion) announced earlier in 2021. When including other green technologies, like hybrids, Toyota is investing 8 trillion yen (NZ$104 billion) by 2030, the company said.