Toyota to add three EVs for U.S. market this year

Toyota Motor North America plans to debut three new electrified models this year. The company plans to add two battery electric vehicles and a plug-in hybrid.

The new models will further expand the company’s total share of the alternative fuel vehicle market, which currently is more than 40%, according to the company. By 2025, Toyota hopes to have 40% of new vehicle sales to be of electrified models and by 2030 expects that number to increase to nearly 70%.

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“We continue to be leaders in electrification that began with our pioneering introduction of the Prius nearly 25 years ago,” said Bob Carter, TMNA executive vice president of sales. “Toyota’s new electrified product offerings will give customers multiple choices of powertrain that best suit their needs.”

Toyota is currently developing a dedicated battery electric vehicle (BEV) platform, e-TNGA, that offers flexibility for all drive configurations. This initiative is a further step towards achieving the company’s Environmental Challenge 2050, introduced in 2015, which was its most demanding environmental commitment made to date.

“We believe the fastest way to lower greenhouse gases in the transportation sector is to offer drivers lower carbon choices that meet their needs,” said Gill Pratt, chief scientist of Toyota Motor Corp. and CEO of Toyota Research Institute. “At every price point and with multiple powertrains, we can put more people in cleaner automobiles across North America to have the greatest near-term impact on total carbon emissions.”

Toyota’s Environmental Challenge 2050 calls for reducing carbon emissions, conserving water, fostering a sustainable supply chain including waste reduction and protecting biodiversity. Currently the company is reducing CO2 from its operations, products and vehicle lifecycle; reducing its overall water use per unit of vehicle production by 3% from a 2020 baseline; and reducing the procurement of plastic packaging materials by 25% from a 2018 baseline. It also is developing a third-party validated onsite habitat management policy, which it hopes to have in place this year and begin implementing in 2022.

Toyota has multiple plants across the Southern Automotive Alliance readership area. In Alabama, the company makes 4-cylinder, V-6 and V-8 engines at its Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama plant. It also has a joint venture vehicle manufacturing plant with Mazda Corp. under construction in Huntsville, Alabama. In Kentucky, Toyota makes the Camry and Avalon sedans, RAV4 Hybrid SUV and Lexus ES 350 sedan in Georgetown. The Toyota Motor Manufacturing Mississippi plant produces the Corolla in Blue Springs. And in Texas, the company builds the Tacoma and Tundra pickups in San Antonio.

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