Toyota Motor Corporation recently held a technical briefing session, “Toyota Technical Workshop,” under the theme “Let's Change the Future of Cars' and announced a variety of new technologies that will support its transformation into a mobility company.
The three approaches that hold the key to the “Toyota Mobility Concept” realisation are electrification, intelligence, and diversification. In the area of electrification, the company noted that it will continue to pursue a 'multi-pathway approach,' including the introduction of optimal powertrains for each region.
In the area of intelligence, in addition to vehicles and services, it will also promote initiatives to expand its connection with society, such as Woven City.
Shifting Resources
To promote these three themes technologically, it has been shifting resources to Advanced Development fields and actively investing in future-oriented areas since 2016, when the company system was inaugurated.“
As of March 2023, we have shifted more than half of our R&D staff and approximately half of our R&D expenses to Advanced Development fields while increasing the total amount. We will further accelerate this trend in the future,” explained Hiroki Nakajima, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Toyota.
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Speaking about the dedicated BEV factory, Takero Kato, President, BEV Factory, pointed out that the company “will achieve a vehicle cruising range of 1,000 km”. Adopting giga casting, as per him, will allow significant component integration, which contributes to the reduction of vehicle development costs and factory investment. In addition, self-propelling production technology will reduce the processes and plant investment by half.
He said, “We will roll out next-generation BEVs globally and as a full lineup to be launched in 2026.”
Hydrogen Market
The hydrogen markets in Europe, China, and North America will be by far the largest in 2030, and the fuel cell market is expected to expand rapidly toward that point.
Mitsumasa Yamagata, President, Hydrogen Factory, said, “We are promoting external sales of fuel cells using the Mirai's hydrogen units and have received offers for external sales of 100,000 units by 2030. Most of them are commercial vehicles.”
Furthermore, in collaboration with partners, if the company receives an offer for 200,000 units in 2030, it will be able to reduce the cost by 50% and generate a 'solid profit' while meeting the expectations of our many customers and Governments. Toyota will continue to work with its partners to contribute in producing, transporting, and using hydrogen.