People in the car world have been talking about Toyota’s announcement recently. Toyota President Akio Toyoda made bold claims that surprised many but gave consumers plenty to look forward between now and 2030.
Toyota will be pushing for electrification of their lineup and investing a whopping 35 billion USD into the effort. More impressively, they’ve shared details of the 30 vehicles they’ll release, and while there are very few specs just yet, the selection will be comprehensive and cater to most car buyers.
Keep reading as we go through what details are known so far. Unfortunately, there isn’t much to go on in terms of specifics. Still, there’s plenty to excite EV enthusiasts and car buyers in general for the next few years.
Is Toyota Going All-Electric?
Yes, Toyota and its luxury division Lexus are collectively embarking on an ambitious plan to go all-electric by the year 2030. This news continues to cause excitement in the auto world since Akio Toyoda’s big announcement last December.
Toyota isn’t the first leading carmaker to publicise plans of electrifying its lineup. Yet, this announcement stands out from the rest because Akio Toyoda included some bold and specific details about the plan.
For starters, Toyota would release a total of 30 new EV models by the year 2030, and the entire electrification push is said to be worth 35 billion USD.
Still, it’s not just Toyota’s big EV plans that got people sitting up and taking notes. It’s also that Mr Toyoda wasn’t always so keen on EVs to begin with.
For example, Mr Toyoda is well-known for his preference for internal combustion engines, particularly when combined with hydrogen fuel.
He has also been known to make statements against the banning of combustion-engine vehicles. He once stated that such bans would harm the auto industry in Japan, and that the EV sector of the auto industry is moving far too quickly.
Putting all these factors together makes Akio Toyoda’s recent announcement about the Toyota EV strategy quite surprising for many. Thankfully, it’s a pleasant surprise that gives EV enthusiasts and supporters plenty to look forward to in the coming years.
What About Other Toyota Vehicles?
Even though we’re expecting many Toyota electric cars to join the company’s lineup in the next few years, that doesn’t spell doom for other vehicles on offer.
For instance, several newer Toyota vehicles, like Toyota hybrid models with the Prius or Corolla badge, Toyota vehicles are still coming out over the next few years.
What All-Electric Car Models Can We Expect from Toyota?
As we’ve seen above, Toyota made a bold declaration of releasing 30 EV models between now and 2030 as part of their electrification push. However, the company is only making 16 of its EV models known for the time being. That includes the Toyota bZ4X that some have already seen earlier.
Unsurprisingly, there are very few specs available about most of the vehicles that Toyota mentioned. Most of them are still in the prototyping stage, so it’ll likely be a while before more details come out.
Still, here’s what we know about the Toyota vehicles included in this electrification plan so far:
- Expansion of the bZ lineup with the upcoming bZ4x, a mid-size SUV, and smaller SUV
- A mid-sized sedan aimed at first-time buyers
- A family-oriented SUV with three rows of seats
- An all-electric Lexus RZ SUV (which was hinted to be all-wheel drive)
- Lexus Sports Battery EV
- Sports cars
- Toyota all-electric cars for city drivers (compact vehicles)
- A Toyota EV commercial van
- A pickup truck
- An off-road Cruiser EV (that looks a lot like a LandCruiser, albeit smaller)
At this point, there are no specifics about Toyota electric car prices either. Even the Toyota bZ4X price isn’t known yet, despite how it’s due in Australia in late 2022.
Bottom Line: What This Means for Australia
At this point, it’s not clear yet which models will come to Australia or when they’ll arrive. However, if the recent press release by the company is any indicator, you can expect Toyota EVs in Australia to cover a wide range of needs.
That’s because the company’s Aussie chief pointed out that the Australian market has a strong demand for different kinds of vehicles. People in cities, suburbs, and rural areas all have different needs.
That’s short of saying that we can expect a reasonably wide selection of Toyota electric vehicles to choose from in Australia. Of course, there’s always a chance that some of them won’t make it to this side of the world.
To keep up with what’s going on with Toyota EVs in Australia, be sure to stay tuned to the Blog at CarPart AU. We post frequent updates about what’s going on with Toyota and other car brands.
By Ray Hasbollah