Although Toyota is not yet marketing a battery-electric vehicle (BEV) the company is pouring more than €11.6bn into battery development over the next nine years, writes Brian Byrne.
Building on the experience gained through the batteries in some 18m Toyota hybrid cars sold to date, the company is expecting to be able to cut battery costs through 2030 by half, and increase their efficiency by 30pc. In addition, the carmaker believes it can improve battery degradation levels so much that a 10-year-old battery will still have 90pc of its original capacity. The upcoming EV from Toyota, the bZ4X BEV joint venture with Subaru which has already been revealed in concept form (above), will be the first of a range of EVs to benefit from this.
Toyota is looking to solid state batteries as the future of affordable BEVs, and is testing a prototype in a car at this time.
More information about the bZ4X in the Irish context will be forthcoming towards the end of this year.
