Toyota president Akio Toyoda has unwrapped no less than 15 wildly diverse concepts for upcoming Toyota and Lexus electric cars, as he detailed plans for the two firms to launch a total of 30 battery EVs by 2030.
The machines – shown alongside Toyota’s first bespoke EV, the bZ4X – include a range of new SUVs, commercial vehicles, off-roaders and a Lexus LFA-inspired supercar.
Revealing a bold strategy for the two firms to sell some 3.5 million battery-electric cars by 2030, Toyoda explained that “we need to reduce emissions as much as possible, as soon as possible,” and the brands will “expand options for carbon-neutral vehicles”, which run on ‘clean’ energy.
Toyota and Lexus’ plan to sell 3.5 million electric cars by 2030, including BEVs and FCEVs, is up from its previous target of 2 million. Toyoda compares this target to Daimler, PSA and other manufacturers with comparable global volumes to Toyota. “A significant volume is what we’re talking about here,” he said.
The company has increased its investment in battery development by ¥500 billion (£3.3bn) to ¥2 trillion (£13.3bn).
He highlighted the disparity between carbon-neutral and carbon-reducing vehicles, emphasising that the source of the energy used to run the company’s EVs is one of the most important factors in the strategy. Toyota and Lexus, he said, will achieve carbon neutrality by 2035.
First, he showed concepts for the bZ-badged EVs which will follow its new bZ4X SUV onto market in the near future: a compact SUV with “a beautiful silhouette”, an Aygo X-inspired urban SUV designed for Japan and Europe, a mid-sized saloon “which meets expectations for a first car” and a full-sized SUV.
These are the firm’s “reasonably priced” mass-production models, but a further 11 models unveiled highlight the diversity of Toyota and Lexus’s planned EVs; alongside small commercial urban EVs were full-sized off-roaders, a pick up truck and even a pair of supercars.