After years of resisting fully electric vehicles, Toyota announced on Wednesday plans to launch its first all-electric vehicles for the mass market in the United States later this year.
In a statement, Toyota said the three new models will include two battery-powered electric vehicles (BEVs) and a plug-in hybrid (PHEV). The company – which in 2020 was the best-selling automaker in the world – also praised the environmental impact of the new vehicles, citing its belief that “the fastest way to reduce greenhouse gases in the transport sector is to offer drivers less carbon choices that meet your needs. “
“We continue to be a leader in electrification that started with our pioneering launch of the Prius almost 25 years ago,” said Bob Carter, executive vice president of sales for Toyota North America, in the statement. “Toyota’s new electrified product offerings will give customers a variety of powertrain options that best meet their needs.”
Although Toyota has long been one of the global pioneers of hybrid vehicles, primarily for Prius, which debuted in Japan in 1997, has long resisted becoming fully electric.
In Wednesday’s statement, the company defended its earlier decision to avoid all trams, claiming that its internal research had initially found that the total greenhouse gas emissions from all-electric and hybrid vehicles were “about the same … by taking into account pollutants created by the production of electricity for the average US power grid used to charge batteries. ”
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But the company’s decision to finally embrace all trams – along with the recent announcement by General Motors that it plans to launch 30 new global electric vehicles by 2025 – is a good sign of where the wind is blowing nowadays.