After years of resisting all electric vehicles, Toyota Announced Wednesday plans to launch the first mass-market electric vehicles in the United States later this year.
In a statement, Toyota said the three new models will include two electric vehicles with batteries (BEVs) and a plug-in hybrid (PHEV). The company, which has been the world’s top-selling carmaker since 2020, also highlights the environmentally friendly impact of the new vehicles, saying that the ‘fastest way to reduce greenhouse gases in the transport sector is to offer drivers less carbon. provided for their needs. ”
“We remain leaders in the electrification process that began with our groundbreaking launch of the Prius nearly 25 years ago,” said Bob Carter, executive vice president of Toyota North America, in the statement. “Toyota’s new electrified product offering gives customers several choices of power stations that best suit their needs.”
While Toyota has long been one of the global pioneers in hybrid vehicles, especially for the Prius, which started it in Japan in 1997, has long resisted becoming completely electric.
In Wednesday’s statement, the company defends its previous decision to shy away from electric electricity, claiming that its internal research initially found that total greenhouse gas emissions from all electric and hybrid vehicles are ‘approximately the same … pollutants produced by the electricity production is created for the average American energy network used to charge batteries.
G / O Media can get a commission
But the company’s decision to finally embrace electricity – along with General Motors’ recent announcement that it plans to expand 30 new global electric vehicles by 2025 – is a good sign of where the wind blows these days.