In an about-face from its anti-EV stance, Toyota has now pledged to have 100 percent zero-emissions sales in Europe by 2035 something which is revealed in a recent media event in Brussels, Belgium. This goal is a follow-up to a commitment of at least 50 percent zero-emissions vehicles sales in Western Europe by 2030. Toyota has still not given up on hydrogen fuel cell-based vehicles as its plan is based on a combination of EVs and fuel cell-based cars. This comes after the company launched its first EV and is preparing to launch another affordable EV in partnership with BYD. This commitment could be bolder should customer demand be higher than what the Japanese giant has envisioned.
“Moving beyond 2030, we expect to see further ZEV demand acceleration and Toyota will be ready to achieve 100% CO2 reduction in all new vehicles by 2035 in Western Europe, assuming that sufficient electric charging and hydrogen refueling infrastructures are in place by then, together with the renewable energy capacity increases that will be required,” said Matt Harrison, Toyota’s CEO for Europe.
Toyota is still not committing on its own account but is rather been forced to do so after the new European Green deal which proposes a 55 percent reduction in new car emissions by 2030 and a 100 percent reduction by 2035. A number of nations have already agreed to a 2040 mark following the recent COP26.
What’s interesting is that unlike some major automakers like Daimler, Volkswagen Group, Stellantis, GM, and Ford, Toyota’s commitment is restricted to only Europe, not globally. Why so? Because Europe is the place where laws are being enacted to ban the internal combustion engine – and hence it has no choice, if it wants to operate in the continent.