Feb 11 (Japan Times) - Toyota Motor Corp. plans to launch two new battery-powered vehicles in the U.S. this year, revising its earlier tentative position on electric vehicles and trucks.
The automaker said Wednesday it will start selling the unnamed EVs and an unspecified plug-in hybrid model, adding to a lineup with several gas-electric hybrids that accounted for almost one-fifth of its total U.S. deliveries last year.
Toyota withdrew from EVs in the U.S. seven years ago when it ceased production of an all-electric version of its best-selling RAV4 crossover sport-utility vehicle.
The move to expand beyond hybrids represents a reversal of that cautious stance and comes at a time when rivals such as General Motors Co. are planning dozens of EVs and aiming to cease output of gasoline-powered models entirely by 2035.
Toyota sells limited numbers of a fuel-cell-powered sedan called the Mirai, but its executives in the U.S. said as recently as last year that they hadn’t seen enough demand to justify a broader lineup of battery-powered models.
Toyota said 25% of its new-vehicle sales will be electrified by 2025 — not far from what it expects to sell in the U.S. this year. But it added that the share will rise to almost 70% by 2030.
