As part of its efforts to boost electrification of its vehicles, Japanese automaker Toyota has announced an ambitious plan to produce and sell EVs with around 900 miles (approx. 1,448 km) of range on a single charge before the end of current decade. Toyota has been lagging behind other automobile majors in electric vehicles segment. Toyota’s management has issued conflicting statements about the future of mobility and as per their view, electric vehicles aren’t the future. After dragging feet on the issue for years, recently Toyota has decided to invest money in electric vehicles. It is yet to be seen how fast Toyota has offer alternatives to Tesla Motors, General Motors, Volkswagen, Hyundai and Chinese automobile companies that are launching EVs with impressive specifications.

Toyota has long been under pressure from environmentalists as well as shareholders because of its apathy towards EVs. Fortunately, the world-renowned Japanese brand has now decided to massively increase its footprints in the EV space. However, it will keep on developing and manufacturing internal combustion engine-powered as well as hydrogen-powered vehicles.

Toyota’s ambitious EV plans include battery-powered vehicles with range of more than 600 miles (approx. 965 km) from 2026 and 900-mile (approx. 1,448 km) range vehicles after 2028. It means that we can expect Toyota EVs with up to 900 miles of range on a single charge before the end of current decade.

The multi-point ambitious plans were revealed by the Japanese brand’s top executives earlier this month at Toyota’s Higashi-Fuji Technical Center under the “Let’s change the future of cars” theme.

At the presentation, Toyota executives claimed that the company has the technology as well as the production system required to produce and deliver industry-leading battery-powered vehicles.

Toyota’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Hiroki Nakajima, said, “We are determined to be the world leader in batteries. We will need various options for batteries, just like we have different variations of engines. It is important to make these batteries compatible with any kind of model.”

Under the Japanese automobile brand’s newly revealed EV plans, the first of the next-generation zero-emissions vehicles will be launched in 2026 as a Lexus EV, which will use a next-generation lithium-ion battery offering more than 600 miles of driving range between two charges.

In the next step (2026-2027), vehicles with bipolar lithium/iron phosphate batteries will be launched. These batteries will not only provide longer driving range but also trim down costs by around 40 per cent. EVs with advanced bipolar lithium/iron batteries, which will provide 10 per cent more range, are scheduled to enter production in 2027-2028. Advanced solid-state batteries that are scheduled to come after 2028 are expected to boost driving range by around 50 per cent, resulting in more than 900 miles (approx. 1,448 km).

Toyota CEO Koji Sato

Under new leadership, Toyota is aiming to transform itself. Koji Sato, born on October 19, 1969, is a mechanical engineer by training and the current President and Chief Executive Officer of Toyota Motor Corporation. He started his journey with Toyota in April 1992, and over the course of his career, he has held various important roles within the company. Some of his key contributions include working on the suspension design of the first-generation Prius and Vista, overseeing the development of the North American Camry, and serving as a concept planner and project general manager for the Lexus GS.

As of 2012, he took on the role of GA-L platform Manager and Lexus LC Concept Planner, followed by Chief Engineer at ZL and Lexus LC Development Leader in 2016. He became Executive Vice President of Lexus International Co. in 2019, and President of the same in 2020. Sato also served as the President of GAZOO Racing Company in September 2020 and took on the role of Chief Branding Officer in January 2021.

Sato was appointed as the Operating Officer and President of Toyota in April 2023. He assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer in the same month and was later appointed as a Member of the Board of Directors in June 2023.

Currently, Toyota has only one all-electric vehicle on sale in the U.S., the bZ4X crossover, which comes with a starting price tag of $42,000 and delivers an EPA-estimated driving range of 252 miles on a single charge.