If it will finally accelerate on the electric, Toyota also wants to develop the rechargeable hybrid. It even provides models with an electric range of 200 km!
During a press conference that symbolized his taking office, Toyota’s new management team presented the main lines of the group’s strategy for the years to come, a strategy of course placed under the sign of electrification.
But the new boss Koji Sato remains faithful to a principle dictated by his predecessor Akio Toyoda: Toyota wants to have a “multi-solution” approach. If the manufacturer will finally accelerate in terms of electrics, it will remain faithful to hybrids. Not just simple hybrids, but also plug-ins.
Moreover, Toyota seems to be a big believer in PHEVs. Hiroki Nakajima, vice-president, explained that the brand will “reposition” the rechargeable hybrid, with an intriguing marketing formula: to make the PHEV “a practical electric”. The manager thus indicated that Toyota intends to launch models whose electric autonomy exceeds 200 km!
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Toyota’s latest PHEVs are already distinguished by a high electric range, which thus makes it possible to make the bulk of daily journeys without gasoline. With 200 km in electric, a value still without equivalent on the European market, the thermal would become even more occasional.
But is this of interest? This would give a PHEV whose thermal is not used much, except for large riders. And the larger battery will necessarily come at a cost.
The formula seems to reverse the balance of power between electric and thermal under the same hood. But the concern for such a model will be the same as at present: to be stuck between less expensive efficient simple hybrids and electric ones with improved autonomy. Toyota has also promised electric ones that go further!