Toyota has been one of the few major automakers to have a belligerent stance towards EVs. It was one of the last to announce serious investment towards what many believe is the future of propulsion. Its CEO Akio Toyoda has been making snide remarks about EVs often as well and now its chief scientist Gill Pratt has also come out and said something that's not exactly endearing towards electric cars.
"(Toyota) believes in the diversity of drivetrains. It's not for us to predict which solution is the best or say only this will work," he said at a Reuters conference.
This is not surprising as recently Toyota did announce plans to invest $13.5 billion towards battery technology between now and 2030, but in the scheme of things, this is also an incredibly low investment especially when compared to what the Volkswagen Group is investing which is upwards of $90 billion. Toyota's reluctance also comes from its investment in fuel cell-powered hydrogen cars and has been a pioneer in space.
Hydrogen-Powered Toyota Mirai Sets Guinness World Record
Toyota has the Mirai which now is in its second generation but many believe hydrogen may not be a viable alternative to fossil fuels and the internal combustion engine because of the infrastructural costs and pervasiveness of the infrastructure. Tesla's Elon Musk has numerous times dubbed hydrogen as a dumb solution.
But while this is happening, the Japanese major is also investing in its first EV which is on a conceptual level right now - dubbed the BZ4X concept.
Toyota has also faced investor pressure which has also triggered its recent overtures towards EVs, but clearly, it is not going all-in. In fact, Akio Toyoda has warned that many Japanese jobs could be lost if the transition towards the electric powertrain is accelerated.
