Some environmentalists are starting to call for a boycott of Toyota as the automaker keeps using its money and influence to slow down electric vehicle progress.
Toyota Stories September 22
Toyota Stories September 9
Toyota announced that it is investing over $13 billion in EV batteries as it is trying to catch up after falling behind in electrification.
In the meantime, the Japanese automaker has led lobbying efforts to slow broader EV adoption.
Toyota Stories August 30
A 2019 rendering of Toyota's E-Palette designed for the 2020 Paralympic Games / Source: Toyota
Toyota Motor Corporation has resumed operations of its self-driving e-Palette pods at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo after a halt last Thursday following a collision with a visually impaired athlete. Working alongside the Paralympic Committee, Toyota will make several safety improvements, both inside and out of its vehicles.
Toyota Stories August 27
A fleet of Toyota e-Palette self-driving EVs / Source: Toyota
Toyota Motor Corporation has announced an immediate halt to all of its e-Palette self-driving transportation pods operating at the Tokyo Paralympic Games. The decision comes on the heels of an accident that took place in the Paralympic Village yesterday, when a Toyota e-Palette collided with a visually impaired athlete, injuring them.
Toyota Stories July 27
A battle is emerging in the world of transportation – the electric vehicle (EV) vs. the internal combustion engine (ICE). Soon you’ll have to choose sides, so it’s vital that you’re fully informed.
We’re here to help with that decision by offering context to consumers, whether you’ve never been near an EV or if you’re an expert. Below is breakdown of how far you can travel in each state on $100 in an EV vs. an ICE vehicle.
Toyota Stories July 26
If you’ve been watching the Olympics in Tokyo this week, you may have noticed several commercials from Toyota, a major sponsor of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Several of the spots feature futuristic prototypes from Toyota, including the LQ concept EV. Yes, Toyota actually made an EV, albeit just a concept.
Toyota Stories July 20
Toyota Motor Group Subsidiary Woven Planet has announced the completed acquisition of Level 5, the self-driving division of rideshare veteran Lyft, Inc. The completed transaction is one of several made by Toyota and its subsidiaries in 2021, specifically pertaining to autonomous software and other self-driving technologies.
Toyota Stories June 16
Toyota is sticking to its delusional belief that battery-electric vehicles aren’t necessarily the future as they claim hybrids and fuel cell hydrogen will stay competitive for the next 30 years.
Toyota Stories May 5
Toyota says it’s considering bringing an all-electric version of its popular Land Cruiser to consumers as it’s in the middle of a trial with a Land Cruiser converted to electric propulsion for a mining company.
Toyota Stories April 27
REE Automotive and Hino Motors, a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Group, announced a business alliance to design and produce solutions in “next-generation commercial mobility.” The alliance will combine Hino’s experience as a commercial vehicle manufacturer with REE’s proprietary REEcorner technologies. The result should be a unique modular platform capable of serving a multitude of various purposes.
Toyota Stories April 20
Toyota says that it is reevaluating its anti-climate lobbying practices as it promotes carbon neutrality goals after receiving pressure from investors.
Toyota Stories April 14
Software systems developer Apex.AI has announced a partnership with Woven Planet under Toyota to help develop and deploy a production-ready autonomy stack. Woven Planet will use Apex.OS for Arene, Toyota’s vehicle development platform to enable modern software development tools and best practices in the automotive industry.
Toyota Stories March 31
Lexus has unveiled a new electric SUV concept, the “LF-Z Electrified,” but it’s not something it plans to bring to production. Rather, the automaker says that it is “symbolic” of its next-generation Lexus.
Toyota Stories March 30
Tesla and Toyota are rumored to be partnering on a new electric SUV, but it is based on a report that doesn’t have a lot of credibility.
Toyota Stories March 17
Toyota is currently lobbying the US government asking them to slow their rollout when it comes to battery-electric vehicles as part of the Japanese automaker’s increasingly delusional effort to slow down the electric vehicle revolution.
Toyota Stories March 16
Toyota is teasing its first battery-electric SUV ahead of the planned unveiling at the Shanghai Motor Show next month.
Toyota Stories February 10
Toyota is announcing today that it is going to bring two electric cars and a plug-in hybrid to the US in 2021.
Toyota Stories January 14
Toyota will pay a penalty of $180 million for failing to comply with the Clean Air Act’s emissions-reporting requirements from 2005-2015, according to a filing today by the US Department of Justice.
Over that time period, Toyota delayed required filings about emissions defects and failed to inform the EPA about progress on recalls related to emissions defects. This resulted in higher emissions, higher costs for consumers, and greater profit for Toyota.
Toyota Stories December 17, 2020
Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda went on a rant about battery-electric vehicles at an annual meeting of the automaker. He spread misinformation about electric vehicles and claimed that it wasn’t a good idea to push for a massive electrification.
This small-mindedness could spell the end for the automaker if they don’t quickly let go of such ideas.
Toyota Stories December 11, 2020
A new report suggests that Toyota is going to unveil an electric car with a new solid-state battery that enables 10-minute fast-charging capacity next year.
Toyota Stories December 7, 2020
Toyota announced today that they will be unveiling a new all-electric SUV in the coming months.
The automaker, which has been seen as a lagger when it comes to all-electric vehicles, says that it’s their ‘first step’ for battery-electric vehicles.
Toyota Stories November 6, 2020
Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda made rare new comments about Tesla and Elon Musk after the electric automaker has surpassed them as the most valuable automaker in the world.
He may or may not have been really hungry when it made the comments.
Toyota Stories June 30, 2020
Three weeks after introducing the RAV4 Prime plug-in hybrid in Japan, Toyota suspended orders in its home market and cut production for the US to just 5,000 vehicles. The company cited unexpectedly high levels of consumer interest and a…wait for it…constraint in battery supply.
Toyota Stories June 9, 2020
When Toyota announced pricing for its new RAV4 plug-in hybrid in late May, the company’s press release pegged the “manufacturer-estimated” all-electric range at 42 miles. However, the Toyota RAV4 Prime consumer website lists 39 miles of all-electric range.
Toyota Stories May 29, 2020
As far as plug-in hybrids go, 42 miles on a single charge is pretty damn good. A lot of commuters could refrain from using gas for weeks or months. Put that in a popular crossover model, and you could have a hit.
Toyota Stories April 27, 2020
The Lexus UX 300e crossover went on sale to Chinese consumers on Sunday, April 26. The Toyota-branded version of the same model, the C-HR, will go on sale this week – with the Izoa variant to soon follow.
Toyota Stories April 2, 2020
Toyota and BYD are launching today a new electric car company with the goal of “developing BEVs that appeal to customers.” expand full story
Toyota Stories March 2, 2020
Toyota might be down on EVs for America. But the Japanese automaker announced plans late last week that it will build a new electric vehicle plant in cooperation with the First Automobile Works (FAW) in Tianjin, China. The two companies will invest about $1.22 billion in the project.
The plant is expected to produce 200,000 battery-only, plug-in hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles every year. The company did not indicate how many units would be electric, plug-in hybrid, or fuel cell.
Toyota Stories February 14, 2020
Larry Hutchinson, CEO of Toyota Canada, spoke last week at the opening of the 2020 Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto. His comments were captured by Driving.ca’s David Booth, who characterized Toyota as “the industry leader in electrification” and “the biggest, most successful, and most environmentally conscious traditional automaker.”
Hutchinson expressed Toyota’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions. But, he argues, that mandating automakers to build more BEVs and trying “to convince drivers to buy them” won’t achieve the world’s climate goals.
Toyota Stories February 3, 2020
Toyota operating officer Masayoshi Shirayanagi, right, and Panasonic senior managing executive officer Makoto Kitano
Toyota and Panasonic announced today an agreement to jointly develop EV batteries starting in April. The new company, dubbed Prime Planet Energy and Solutions, will develop prismatic batteries for sale to other automakers. The joint venture, which will be owned 51% by Toyota, will have more than 5,000 employees.
Toyota Stories January 24, 2020
Toyota has a history of creating misleading electric-vehicle advertising, especially with its “self-charging hybrid” ad campaign. Norway has now banned the campaign, deeming it a lie. expand full story
Toyota Stories December 22, 2019
A Ford dealer guide distributed this week revealed the starting price of the 2020 Ford Escape Plug-In Hybrid as $34,235, including destination. Ford says that the Escape Plug-in Hybrid will have “30-plus” miles of all-electric range. The Escape PHEV will compete for customers with the 2020 Toyota RAV4 Plug-in Hybrid, which is more powerful while providing 39 miles of EV range.
Toyota Stories December 11, 2019
The small Toyota Aygo, launched in 2014, is the company’s only car sold in Europe without a hybrid option. When a new version of the Aygo arrives, it could leapfrog a hybrid and take on a full, battery-electric powertrain.
Toyota Stories December 9, 2019
The Toyota Motor Corporation will launch its first all-electric Lexus in 2020. Nikkei’s Asian Review confirmed that the Lexus UX300e battery-powered SUV will go on sale as soon as next spring in China. The UX300e will then debut in Europe in summer 2020 and Japan in early 2021.
Toyota Stories November 14, 2019
Two weeks ago, Toyota sided with the Trump administration’s bid to bar California from setting its own fuel-efficiency and zero-emission rules. The next day, on Oct. 29, former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich, tweeted, “Toyota, goodbye. The environmental goodwill you’ve built by pioneering hybrid cars has vanished in your choice of Trump over California. #toyotatrump.” And the Toyota-Trump boycott was started.
Toyota Stories November 7, 2019
Toyota has yet to launch an all-electric vehicle, but they have been making a lot of deals to develop batteries for them and now they have one with BYD. expand full story
Toyota Stories October 31, 2019
Toyota, GM, and FCA have been getting a lot of flack the last couple days, in response to their move to join the EPA in opposing better MPG standards against the interests of consumers and the environment.
Toyota responded to this public outcry by claiming that it wants “continuous, year-over-year improvements in fuel economy,” but there’s one problem with that: Their fleet average MPG is actually getting worse over time, unlike every other automaker.
Toyota Stories October 11, 2019
Toyota has unveiled a new plug-in hybrid (PHEV) version of the RAV4 for 2021 — showing that it is doing electrification backward, since it used to have an all-electric RAV4 SUV more than a decade ago. expand full story
Toyota Stories August 23, 2019
Toyota is providing the official fleet for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo in 2020 and 90% of them will be electric. That’s 850 electric vehicles to be deployed next year — most of them new, including some weird ones. expand full story
Toyota Stories July 19, 2019
Just days after announcing a Chinese battery deal, Toyota has announced that it will partner with another company, BYD, to develop all-electric cars in China.
Toyota Stories July 18, 2019
Toyota is known as a lagger in the auto industry when it comes to all-electric vehicles, but it is actually building an all-electric shuttle just for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. expand full story
Toyota Stories July 17, 2019
Toyota announced today that it has reached a deal with China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) to develop batteries for electric cars.
Toyota Stories July 5, 2019
Toyota announced today that it is starting to test new high-efficiency solar cells to be used on electric cars that could potentially boost the range by 35 miles (56 km) of range per day. expand full story
Toyota Stories June 27, 2019
Toyota will invest $2 billion to develop electric vehicles in Indonesia, according to the country’s coordinating ministry for maritime affairs. But those plans will at least start with a focus on hybrids.
Toyota Stories June 18, 2019
Toyota has been dragging their feet on new vehicle technology for some time now, seemingly happy to continue selling their antiquated gas-powered fleet, with no battery electric vehicles and only one plug-in hybrid and one fuel cell vehicle (powered by 95% fossil-sourced hydrogen) across their entire lineup.
But if you watch their recent ads, the deceptiveness of which we’ve covered before, you wouldn’t know this. Because they continue to misleadingly advertise their “self-charging” “hybrid electric Corolla” as if it’s anything other than a 100% fossil-powered gas guzzler. And in case it wasn’t apparent already: “self-charging” is not a real thing, as the entire concept violates the basic laws of physics.
Toyota Stories June 7, 2019
Toyota announced that it is accelerating its electric vehicle plans by 5 years and partnering with new battery makers to secure supply as it unveiled images of upcoming all-electric cars.
However, the automaker’s electrification plan is still heavily focused on hybrids instead of all-electric vehicles. expand full story
Toyota Stories June 6, 2019
Toyota and Subaru, which is partly owned by the latter, have announced that they are partnering to develop a new electric platform in order to launch a couple of all-electric SUVs under each brand. expand full story
Toyota Stories April 18, 2019
Toyota is probably the least interested in battery-electric vehicles out of all the major automakers and in new comments this week, the company claimed that “nobody is selling electric vehicles at a profitable margin”. expand full story
