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Toyota's New CEO Is All-In On Hydrogen, Despite Everyone Else Focusing on EVs
Toyota's New CEO Is All-In On Hydrogen, Despite Everyone Else Focusing on EVs-January 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:09:17

Image for article titled Toyota's New CEO Is All-In On Hydrogen, Despite Everyone Else Focusing on EVs

As the world , Toyota keeps banging a different zero-emission drum: . Between the and hydrogen-powered concepts with or , the company clearly views hydrogen-powered vehicles as part of our automotive future. Incoming CEO Koji Sato, , seems to agree.

True, Toyota has introduced more electrification to its lineup — cars like the or — but its push towards EVs has thus far lagged behind other automakers of similar size. Sato intends to change that, with more attention paid to battery-powered vehicles, but it seems he isn’t willing to leave hydrogen behind.

Image for article titled Toyota's New CEO Is All-In On Hydrogen, Despite Everyone Else Focusing on EVs

, in which he talked about keeping hydrogen a “viable option” despite pushing an accelerated EV timeline. Yet, it seems he isn’t expecting consumers to keep up with Toyota’s big plans — when asked about targeted sales numbers, Sato replied, “We don’t have a very specific business goal at this time.”

Toyota’s status as a dominant automaker in the coming decades may depend on its zero-emissions plans. With more and more jurisdictions moving to at some future date, manufacturers will need new, advanced vehicles to fill in the gap. Yet Toyota’s commitment to splitting zero-emissions development between batteries and hydrogen may hamper its efforts. After all, only a tiny number of hydrogen refueling stations exist worldwide, and Toyota doesn’t want to foot the bill to change that. In Sato’s words, “It’s not that Toyota will take a proactive lead in making these investments.”

Hydrogen has long been a passion project of Toyota’s, and it seems that will continue under Sato’s tenure as CEO. But with the days of ICE vehicles drawing to a close, and the push towards EVs growing ever stronger, one has to wonder if Toyota’s barking up the wrong tree.

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