Battery-powered electric vehicles will never dominate the car market, making up no more than 30 per cent of global sales, according to the world’s biggest car manufacturer.
In a stark warning that raises fresh concerns about the push to go green, Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda said combustion engines as well as hybrids and those powered by hydrogen fuel cells will play a major role in the future.
Toyoda, whose grandfather founded Toyota in Japan in 1937, said the shift to battery electric vehicles – known in the industry as BEVs – was not the answer when a billion people worldwide live without electricity.
‘We also supply vehicles to these regions, so a single BEV option cannot provide transportation for everyone,’ he said in remarks published on the Toyota website.
‘No matter how much progress BEVs make, I think they will still only have a 30 per cent market share.’
Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda said combustion engines as well as hybrids and those powered by hydrogen fuel cells will play a major role in the future
He said the remaining 70 per cent would be other types of greener vehicles and added: ‘Engine cars will definitely remain.
I think this is something that customers and the market will decide, not regulatory values or political power.’
Pushing back against the focus on BEVs at the expense of alternatives, Toyoda said: ‘The enemy is CO2. So, let’s all think about reducing CO2.’
Governments around the world are pressing drivers to ditch petrol and diesel cars.
But some drivers are reluctant because of the cost of electric cars and a lack of infrastructure such as charging points.
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