Toyota Planning 10 Ambitious New EVs By 2026

"In the next few years, we will expand our lineup in the important battery-electric category," said Koji Sato. Toyota's revised EV strategy makes bold promises, teasing that the new EVs will be "entirely different" and will be designed to "set hearts racing."

Based on the above teaser, which appears to be a Lexus, it looks like Toyota is serious.

Moreover, Toyota promised to double the driving range thanks to batteries that offer "far greater efficiency." The bZ4X offers a maximum of 252 miles, so we're expecting at least 500 miles.

Toyota may not have released many EVs yet, but the Japanese giant - as of July 2022 - had collected 1,331 patents for solid-state battery technology, widely believed to hold the key to reduced weight, cost, complexity, and anxiety. That means more power, more density, more efficiency, and more affordability.

We suspect Toyota is not far behind BMW in the solid-state race, the Bavarians expected to launch first-use prototypesbefore the end of 2023. As we said last year, it looks as ifplaying the long game最终将在丰田的支持工作。

The second big part of the announcement was Toyota's goal of achieving sales of 1.5 million EVs annually by 2026, which it hopes to achieve by increasing production. This applies especially to North America, where the automaker plans to introduce a new three-row SUV, potentially to take on the Kia EV9.

Toyota will also need smaller-in-size but larger-in-sales-volume vehicles to achieve those figures, not just range-topping SUVs. Hence, Toyota also announced plans for the introduction of an electric pickup before the end of the year and a compact model, potentially something Model 3-sized or thereabouts.

If we're right about Toyota having solid-state batteries in the works, it may even be able to beat BMW to the punch. We'll know more in the coming months, but can Toyota achieve its sales targets, especially following the poor impression that its first EV, thewheel-losing bZ4X, left?

Analysts at S&P Global certainly think so,according to Reuters.

An earlier forecast compiled before Friday's EV announcement revealed that the banking company expected Toyota to achieve 1.2 million EV sales by 2026, 25% lower than Toyota's estimate.

"There's a gap of 300,000 units, so that can be thought of as a difference of about a year," said associate director at S&P Global Mobility Yoshiaki Kawano. "It doesn't seem like it's impossible to achieve at all," adding that success will largely depend on what models Toyota launches.

If the design and the capability of the newToyota Priusare anything to go by, the automaking giant is well on its way to finding its mojo again. By introducing exciting new EVs alongside highly attractive hybrids, Toyota seems to be in the right position to expand its share of the electrified vehicle market. And those hybrids will be able to go even further than ever before.

Executive vice president Hiroki Nakajima added that engineers are developing next-generation plug-in hybrid electric vehicles that will have an all-electric range of more than 200 kilometers, which is 124 miles. He did not indicate which of thevarious test cycles for fuel consumptionthis figure would be achieved on, but even if it is the more ambitious WLTP test rather than the stringent EPA cycle, it would mark a notable increase. The current Prius Prime is already impressive, with itsmaximum electric range of 44 mileson the EPA cycle, but the prospect of nearly tripling is not impossible with all the battery tech Toyota owns. Best of all, these are promised to be affordable and made "with a focus on high quality." Stay tuned for more.