Toyota Motor Corp said on Tuesday that it expects to invest more than N3.71 Trillion on developing batteries and its battery supply chain by 2030, in order to maintain a lead in the crucial automotive technology over the next decade.
The world’s largest manufacturer by volume, which popularized hybrid gasoline-electric vehicles with the Prius, is on track to offer its first all-electric lineup next year.
Toyota, a pioneer in the development of electric car batteries, said it hoped to reduce the cost of its batteries by 30% or more by improving the materials used and the structure of the cells.
“Then, for the vehicle, we aim to improve power consumption,” Chief Technology Officer Masahiko Maeda said at a press conference, “which is an indicator of the amount of electricity used per kilometre, by 30%, starting with the Toyota bZ4X,”
Solid-state batteries, which are more energy-dense, charge faster, and are less prone to catching fire, are a potential game-changer for automakers because they are more energy-dense, charge faster, and are less prone to catching fire. They could eventually replace liquid lithium-ion batteries if they are successfully developed.
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Despite the fact that the short service life of these cells continues to be a problem, Toyota’s goal of developing solid-state batteries by the mid-2020s remains unchanged, according to Maeda.
He remarked, “We’re currently looking for the best materials to employ.” Solid-state batteries are expensive to build and are prone to cracking as they expand and compress during usage, thus efforts to mass-produce them have stalled.
Toyota also stated that solid-state batteries would be used in hybrid electric vehicles such as the Prius. Volkswagen, the world’s second-largest automaker, said on Tuesday that it may have to spend more money to complete its planned transition to autonomous driving and electric vehicles.