Toyota is hard at work to produce better performing, more durable and less expensive batteries, with the goal of halving their cost between 2022 and 2030 before switching to solid batteries. This concerns electric vehicles but also hybrids.
Batteries are the sinews of war in which automakers are engaged to dominate the market for electrified vehicles. Pioneer of the hybrid but cautious on the electric, or late depending on the point of view, Toyota has just presented its strategy to lower the cost of its batteries and therefore of the vehicles in which they are installed. The planned investment is equivalent to nearly 12 billion euros over this decade.
Will the cost of batteries cut in half by 2030?
According to Toyota, improving and lowering the costs of electrified cars requires coordinated work on batteries alone and vehicles as a whole.
The BZ4X electric SUV, the first of six “zero emission” models that Toyota plans to launch from 2022, will thus enjoy a 30% reduction in energy consumption compared to the brand’s previous electric cars. And rather than equipping it as standard with a large battery offering better range than before, Toyota intends instead to rely on this good performance to equip the vehicle with a smaller battery, reducing the cost of this battery by 30%. here and therefore the price in concession in fine. And Toyota is still aiming for a 50% reduction in the price of the battery in the cost of each electric vehicle compared to the BZ4X for the second half of the decade 2020. Still with a view to reducing costs, but also controlling its technologies in an increasingly competitive market, Toyota plans to produce in internal a greater proportion of its batteries in the future.
The solid-battery Toyota exists
From the nickel-metal hydride batteries of its simple hybrids to the lithium-ion devices of its rechargeable and electric hybrids, Toyota is developing new materials to improve the performance, endurance and longevity of its batteries. But the next major step in chemistry will be the arrival of solid electrolyte batteries. Taking the eternal rival and compatriot Honda by surprise who is working on a solid-battery prototype for 2022, Toyota managed to build such a vehicle in the summer of 2020 on the basis of the 2019 LQ for testing.
Thanks to faster movements of ions, this type of battery recharges and distributes its power faster than current accumulators while taking advantage of better energy density. Toyota wants to equip its electric vehicles but also its hybrids in the future. But research in this area is not finished. ” We have found that solid batteries have a short lifespan which is a problem. (…) We must continue development, mainly on the components of the solid electrolyte ”, dixit Masahiko Maeda, in charge of technology at Toyota. Ford, BMW and Volkswagen are also working on solid batteries.
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The hybrid still at the heart of Toyota
Toyota’s calculations show three hybrid vehicles reduce CO emissions2 equivalent to that of an electric vehicle. With its 18.1 million hybrids sold carrying the equivalent of 260,000 electric vehicle batteries, Toyota has thus achieved a reduction in CO emissions.2 equal to that of 5.5 million electric cars compared to 100% thermal cars. Toyota therefore remains very attached to this technology and reserved for a global and rapid switch to all-electric, in particular because of the diversity of electricity sources depending on the country. ” Because the options to reduce CO emissions2 depend on the local energy situation, Toyota will continue to experiment with several strategies (…) In places where the use of renewable energy has yet to develop, hybrid electrification is one of the effective ways to reduce CO emissions.2. On the other hand, Toyota believes that increasing the use of “zero emission” vehicles such as battery and fuel cell vehicles is important in regions where renewable energy is plentiful. », Explains Maeda. Aligned with the objectives of the Paris Agreement, Toyota is aiming for carbon neutrality by 2050.
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