Posted on 06/22/2023 7:25:08 AM PDT by Red Badger
The automotive juggernaut unveiled new battery tech and new battery-powered vehicle plans.
Toyota has big plans to bring new, improved tech — and, perhaps, a sharper focus — to the electric vehicle market. It suggests a shift from the auto juggernaut’s previous position, which took a more skeptical approach to converting to fully EVs, instead pursuing a mix of fully-electric, hybrid, and hydrogen cars.
The maker of the Prius, the world’s first mass-produced hybrid, says it will continue to offer a range of powertrain options, but it also announced a suite of new technologies designed to help the company fully join the fight for the EV market. This includes AI-assisted aerodynamic design, “Gigacasting” manufacturing like the kind used by Tesla, and — most crucially — “next-gen” EV batteries.
Toyota claims it will soon crank out EVs capable of going over 600 miles on one charge by 2026 — double the average range of new EVs hitting the road today. By 2028, the company’s aim is over 900 miles, per InsideEVs.
“That is stunning,” Michelle Krebs, an executive analyst at Cox Automotive, told Axios. (Cox Automotive and Axios are owned by the same parent company.)
Concern over driving range is one of the three biggest barriers preventing people on the fence from going fully electric, Krebs noted.
Toyota has announced a suite of new technologies designed to help the company fully join the fight for the EV market, including AI-assisted aerodynamic design, “Gigacasting” manufacturing, and — most crucially — “next-gen” EV batteries.
New battery tech: First on Toyota’s innovation docket is an optimized version of the lithium-ion battery that currently dominates the electric car market, InsideEVs reported. The 600-mile per charge battery will power a new model from Lexus, the luxury brand owned by Toyota.
Two new bipolar lithium iron phosphate batteries will launch next. The first, scheduled for 2026-27, is expected to reduce costs by 40%, InsideEVs reported; the second will be an advanced version with 10% more range, slated for production in 2027-28.
Finally, Toyota announced plans for a solid-state battery with a range of over 900 miles on one charge, hoping to hit the road in five years.
Solid state, fluid future: Solid-state batteries hold promise — and pitfalls — for electric vehicles. As Motortrend explained, solid-state batteries differ from the kind currently dominating the road in a crucial way: the separator, which keeps two crucial battery components separated, is the same medium that the current flows through. Traditional batteries use separators that allow for a liquid electrolyte medium to pass through it, instead.
This makes the batteries more stable, faster charging, and able to generate more juice with less weight. However, solid-state batteries are also material intensive, have some of the same material-modifying issues current batteries have, and — perhaps the real killer, right now — are more expensive to make.
Toyota claims it will be releasing batteries that will extend the rang up to 900 miles by 2028 — but the automaker has made similar claims before.
All of which could color Toyota’s new EV dedication.
“Whenever anyone said, ‘Oh, Toyota’s lagging on EVs,’ I always cautioned them: You don’t know what’s going on in their labs,” Krebs told Axios. “What’s pretty clear now is they’re going public with some of the work they’ve been doing.”
But, as Elektrek pointed out, Toyota’s been going public with what they’ve been doing for a while now; back in 2014, the company claimed a solid-state battery would be on the road by 2020.
Ping!..................
That means more vehicles dying on the road.
Oh, what a feeling!....................
Don’t go all Bud Lite on us, Toyota.
600 miles on one charge..................but at what speed?................
😴😴😴😴😴😴😴
The car rental companies have teslas all ove the place. Is anyone renting these?
And at what weight for the vehicle?
The gas engine is the most efficient form of transportation invented.
And how long to get that ONE charge?......................
So instead of paying $20,000 for battery replacements when they die, folks will have to pay $40,000?
Exactly. Drive no faster than 20 mph and you'd get 600 miles on a charge. Possibly.
A two banger, I see...............
And when it's empty I can refill it in about 4 minutes at any one of 35,000 stations coast-to-coast.
EVs? No thanks!
As long as you don’t use the heater or AC.
It’ll burn your house down twice as fast...................
We’re all going to switch to EVs unless you live in countries like Russia and Saudi Arabia.
600 miles per charge....as long as you don’t turn on the radio or the air conditioner.
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