Toyota aims to sell 30,000 fuel cell vehicles and seven million additional hybrids by the year 2020 as part of a sweeping new environmental plan to slash carbon dioxide emissions.
Among the goals, Toyota targets a 90 per cent cut in average carbon dioxide emissions from new vehicles by 2050, compared with 2010 levels. And more ambitiously, it aims to achieve zero carbon dioxide emissions at factories in that timeframe.
The vision reduces the traditional internal combustion engine to just the tiniest sliver of Toyota’s total deployment by 2050.
The goals signal a ramped-up push by Toyota to establish itself as a global clean car leader. Proof of this was last year’s release of the Mirai hydrogen fuel cell vehicle and the up-coming launch of the next-generation Prius flagship hybrid.
Toyota’s focus on hydrogen and hybrid technologies draws a clear battle line against other car manufacturers which staked much of their own green car strategy on clean diesels.
The push calls for ramping up electrified drive-trains, winding down reliance on fossil fuels and turning to renewable energy sources, especially in the form of hydrogen. Toyota said it aims to sell 30,000 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles by 2020. This compares with the marque’s production plan of just 2,000 such vehicles in 2016.
In hybrids, Toyota wants to achieve annual sales of 1.5 million vehicles and reach cumulative sales of 15 million units by 2020. Toyota sold its first hybrid vehicle back in 1997 and is now selling around 1.27 million hybrids annually.