Toyota wants to expand its range of electric cars in Europe to six models by 2026. That’s what we wrote on Monday, talking about the brand’s two concepts unveiled at its annual Kenshiki event in Brussels. But the Japanese company is also providing more details on its battery roadmap and hydrogen plans.

With the presentation of the Urban SUV and Sport Crossover concepts, four of the six planned BEVs are now known. Together with the light commercial vehicles, the Japanese manufacturer aims to have 15 zero-emission models on the market under the Toyota brand in Europe by 2026 and to achieve a BEV share of over 20% with sales of more than 250 000 electric vehicles per year.

In addition to the two concept vehicles, other battery-electric Toyota and Lexus vehicles were on display at the event, “which will be seen on European roads in the coming years and will lead the next generation of battery-electric vehicles from Toyota and Lexus”, as the Japanese company announced.

More than just mobility

These include the already well-known Lexus LF-ZC concept, the Toyota FT-Se electric sports car concept, and the Toyota FT-3e future concept. The cornerstone of the new BEV generation will be a modular design architecture that combines a Gigacast chassis, the minimization of components, and a new operating system.

The FT-3e is the most advanced of these. According to Toyota, it is a “technical study that encompasses the entire spectrum of future technologies, minimizes weight, maximizes aerodynamic performance, and controls costs”.

The FT-3e is intended to investigate how cars could offer more than just mobility in the future by networking with society and enabling the transfer of energy and data.

Still dragging their feet on BEVs?

Yoshihiro Nakata, President and CEO of Toyota Motor Europe (TME), sees it like this: “While we will continue to offer multiple carbon reduction technologies, we will also steadily increase the number of zero-emissions vehicles we offer customers.”

“In Europe, the share of electrified vehicles at Toyota is already 71% and is expected to rise to 75% by 2024, with the share of new battery-electric vehicles in sales figures set to increase further.”

From Nakata’s words, it sounds like Toyota is sticking to its multi-track approach with a mix of hybrids, plug-in hybrids, BEVs, and hydrogen vehicles. The manufacturer continues to talk about a “multi-pathway” strategy, with new battery and fuel cell electric vehicles “reinforcing” the multi-track approach to climate neutrality.

This was confirmed by Matthew Harrison, COO of TME, in an interview with L’Echo. “Toyota is well financed on a global scale. That means that we can invest in multiple technologies at the same time. We are ready for the markets that change quickly and the others.”

“We have to think of the masses. The center of gravity of our European business is the small and compact car segments. Of course, one can go faster in the higher premium segments, but the challenge is far higher in the A- and B-segments (like Yaris), where more than half of our volume lies.”

And he adds: “I’m pretty sure that small cars won’t disappear, like some of our competitors forecasted. In the big cities of Europe, SUVs aren’t the solution. Who will take an important piece of the cake here? We must reckon with the Chinese if we talk about small, affordable BEVs.”

Asked about the turning point in the energy transition, Harrison estimates that Toyota will be at 50-55% BEVs in the sales mix in 2030 and that the turning point will be between 2027 and 2030. “That will also depend on external factors like taxation and emission regulation.”

Toyota wants to increase the importance of zero-emission vehicles within the mix. Incidentally, this also includes hydrogen combustion engines and e-fuels.

Battery progress

Regarding the battery technology used, Toyota has announced that it is preparing to introduce a series of new batteries. First, the company will release a new high-performance version of a conventionally structured battery, which “offers twice the range and a cost reduction of 20% compared to the current bZ4X”.

This will be followed by a low-cost LFP battery intended to contribute to the spread of BEVs, especially in the lower end of the market. “It will have a new shape and a bipolar structure and will increase the range by 20% and reduce costs by 40% compared to bZ4X.”

With the third battery introduced at Toyota, the carmaker wants to focus on high performance, using bipolar technologies and a cathode with high nickel content. This battery is expected to offer even lower costs and a greater range.

The Japanese company also announced the market launch of the first solid-state battery for 2027-2028. “We have made a technological breakthrough that overcomes the long-standing challenge of solid-state battery durability,” commented Andrea Carlucci, Vice President of Toyota Motor Europe.

“A method for mass production is currently being developed, and we are striving for commercialization in 2027-2028 with a production capacity of several tens of thousands of vehicles,” he added.

Hydrogen belief unscattered

On the subject of hydrogen, Toyota remains confident that “with the momentum of the growing infrastructure and the availability of green hydrogen, we can contribute to the decarbonization of mobility in Europe”.

In the passenger car segment, the company offers the Mirai and the Crown, which have just been launched in some markets. TME’s Hydrogen Factory Europe integrates its current FC technology into trucks, buses, boats, and pickups in the commercial vehicle segment.

A Fuel Cell prototype of the Hilux was on display at the event. Toyota has high hopes for the next generation of its fuel cell system, which should be ready for the market in 2026. Meanwhile, the Hilux gets additional powertrains but remain modestly mild hybrids.