Toyota

Global automaker and hybrid zealot Toyota announced it will resume sales of its first mass-produced battery EV – the bZ4X, following a safety recall concerning risk that its wheels could fall off. Months later, the Japanese automaker appears to have found a fix to the manufacturing defect (as well as a previously undiscovered safety issue) and plans to resume bZ4X production immediately.

It looks like Toyota is still not getting the message: people want electric vehicles, not hybrids. Despite all the evidence pointing to the inevitable growth of EVs in the auto industry, Toyota insists on sticking with hybrids, claiming, “That’s our strategy, and we’re sticking to it.” Well, Toyota, you may end up being left behind as nearly every other automaker, nation, and organization is moving toward sustainable, fully-electric vehicles.

Japanese automakers Toyota, Honda, and Nissan, are being called out again for their lack of progress with battery electric vehicles and decarbonization efforts. Greenpeace, a nonprofit organization promoting a sustainable future, released a new study finding that Japanese automakers lag behind their peers.

Japanese automaker Toyota continues to delve deeper into a Bizarro-mirrored universe in which it actually (sort of) behaves like an EV automaker. Following news earlier this week in which the EV laggards laid out an $5.6 billion investment plan to build batteries, Toyota is already making moves to convert two engine and powertrain plants near its Japanese headquarters to produce EV batteries instead.

In a strange series of events, Toyota is changing its stance on electric vehicles, as the Japanese automaker announced Wednesday it will be tripling its planned investment in its new battery manufacturing plant in North Carolina.

Toyota is at it again, claiming that there’s not enough demand in the United States for electric vehicles – most of which are currently suffering from months of backlog in the United States due to high demand. Even their own bZ4X has a waiting list because, well, the wheels keep falling off.

Toyota has sent a letter to bZ4X owners, offering a choice between a loaner and incentive package or full repurchase of vehicles, as the company continues to struggle with (literally) keeping the wheels on their first electric car effort.

Notably, the car’s electric drive systems are not affected by the recall – the battery and drive motor are working perfectly fine.

The EV race is heating up. Electric car sales in the US reached a new record in the first quarter, and the momentum does not look to be slowing anytime soon. Traditional automakers are spending billions to catch up to EV leader Tesla. Which legacy automakers are spending the most on EVs?

Toyota Motors is boosting its US EV capacity with a new supply agreement with Ioneer LTD’s Rhyolite Ridge mining project. According to the new deal, Ioneer will supply 4,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate annually to the Toyota-Panasonic battery venture.

Toyota has sold its 200,000th plug-in car in the US, meaning its access to the $7,500 federal tax credit will sunset over the course of the next 15 months.

The company joins Tesla and GM in no longer qualifying for credits, with Ford and Nissan also expected to hit the limit later this year.

Toyota issued a recall on 2,700 bZ4X electric cars, roughly all the ones produced to date (though most undelivered), over the potential of wheels falling off.

Toyota has unveiled a new home battery pack to provide residential backup – a product that is going to compete with Tesla Powerwall.

A recent report out of Tokyo says that Toyota is working on an SUV version of its Crown sedan, arriving in hybrid, PHEV, and fully-electric versions for its home country in addition to exports of some versions to China and North America. The Crown was the first Toyota vehicle to be exported to the United States in 1958, and it has remained a mainstay model in the Japanese market for 67 years.

Toyota has now officially launched the bZ4X, its first all-electric vehicle in a long time, in the US and announced a starting price of $42,000.

According to recent comments from Toyota North America, the automaker expects to surpass the 200,000 vehicle threshold for EV sales sometime this summer, disqualifying itself from any additional tax credits in the United States under current legislation. Toyota’s federal tax credits will be phased out just as the automaker plans to begin sales of its lone BEV, the bZ4X, later this year.

Toyota announced a new partnership with ChargePoint on electric vehicle charging in America ahead of the US launch of its bZ4X electric SUV.

US public charging network, EVgo, has announced a commercial agreement with Toyota Motor North America to provide upcoming bZ4X customers with one year of free charging on its network. Toyota is EVgo’s latest automotive partner as it looks to continue to expand its public charging network and expedite EV adoption for US consumers.

Toyota has released additional images of “possible” new Lexus electric sports vehicles with “430 miles” of range. However, the automaker is using extremely vague language about those vehicles.

Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe recently spoke to proposals of hydrogen combustion cars by rivals like Toyota, stating his company studied the technology’s potential ten years ago. Mibe went on to say that unlike Toyota, Honda doesn’t see hydrogen combustion as feasible for cars. That doesn’t mean the Japanese automaker is abandoning the chemical element, however. Hydrogen Fuel Cell EVs remain a key part of its zero-emissions strategy looking forward.

Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co. recently stated it is still undecided on where to manufacture EVs in the United States, questioning the country’s demand despite soaring sales numbers from competitors miles ahead in their own electrified transitions.

Toyota teased an upcoming electric pickup truck with an early concept vehicle at an event today about its long awaited battery-electric vehicle plan.