After helping pioneer the hybrid car era with the Prius, Toyota famously fell behind as its rival automakers turned their ambitions from partially battery-powered to completely battery-powered.
The company instead continued to insist that hybrids and hydrogen fuel vehicles had a role in the automotive revolution – all while reportedly lobbying against swift, sweeping mandates to decarbonize passenger vehicles.
But even Toyota has apparently conceded that the era of the EV is upon us — and it plans to catch up in a big way.
The automaker recently held an event at an R&D hub in its native Japan that included, according to Automotive News, a slew of new announcements about groundbreaking technology in its next-generation vehicles.
Among them was software that automatically updates itself, aerospace-inspired vehicle designs, and cars that drive themselves through the assembly process.
Most notable, however, were the company’s goals for an advanced battery that could effectively eliminate even the most extreme range anxiety: one capable of traveling up to 900 miles — more than the distance from New York to Chicago — without charging.
Toyota pledged two years ago to spend billions to get to the front of the race to a functional solid-state battery, which would enable more energy density, faster charging, and pose less of a fire risk than the liquid lithium-ion batteries used in most current EVs.
Officials at the event in Japan outlined a path to more than double the current range of its liquid-state batteries between 2026 and 2028, before rolling out two solid-state batteries toward the end of the decade. The first, in 2027 or 2028, would reportedly be able to travel 745 miles per charge, while a subsequent, more advanced version would be able to reach 932 miles on a charge — all while recharging in minutes.
The briefing came ahead of a shareholder proposal that would have directed the company to review its “climate-related lobbying activities.” As expected, attendees at the company’s annual meeting rejected the measure.
Toyota officials have said the company plans to roll out 10 new electric models by 2026.
