Toyota promises a battery of about 1,500 km of autonomy

Building Toyota He has often been criticized for his electrification strategy. For many, including RPM, the manufacturer does not give sufficient priority to the manufacture of fully electric vehicles, as other manufacturers such as South Koreans and some Americans have surpassed them in terms of size, but also technical characteristics. However, it seems that the Japanese company does not intend to stay for long. At the Technical Center in Higashi Fuki, Japan, it has just launched, among other things, its battery development strategy that includes vehicles with a range of about 1,500 km and solid electrolyte batteries.

The first wave of lithium-ion batteries

The first stage will arrive in 2026, when a new generation of lithium-ion batteries called “Performance” will be launched. This will have a higher energy density, which will allow it to have practically twice the range compared to that of the current Toyota bZ4X. According to Keiji Kaita, Head of Battery Development and Head of the Carbon Neutral Technology Development Center, this battery, combined with improvements in vehicle weight and aerodynamics, will allow for a range of about 1,000 km. Above all, its advantage will be based on reducing costs by 20% and recharging from 10 to 80% in less than 20 minutes.

The second phase consists of a double-electrode lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery which will land in 2026 or 2027. Due to its technology that combines anode and cathode connections, this battery allows for a 20% increase in range beyond the current Toyota bZ4X battery while reducing Its cost increased by 40%. Although this battery appears to be less useful than the previous one, it may be intended for entry-level vehicles due to its more attractive cost.

Eventually, a nickel-based bipolar lithium-ion battery, dubbed “high performance”, will arrive in 2027 or 2028. This will improve range by 10% compared to a 1000 km range battery and will cost around 10% less to manufacture.

Solid electrolyte batteries

Two solid electrolyte batteries are also planned by the end of the decade. The first will arrive around 2028 and will allow a 20% increase in range compared to a lithium-ion battery of 1,000 km. Then another generation will allow to improve the range by about 50% compared to the lithium battery of the new generation, which will devote about 1,500 km of range. These two batteries have a recharge time of about 10 minutes to go from 10 to 80%. Unfortunately, cost details are not yet available for this type of battery.

One can imagine that these new types of batteries could coexist within the range. Some may have characteristics that are more suitable for a particular profession, which means that they will be given priority for a particular type of vehicle. However, no details were provided on this matter.

A new generation of vehicles

Those batteries are just a small part of what Toyota calls “Phase 3” of its electrification plan. This sequence includes new vehicles that will use an entirely new custom architecture and new operating system with automatic updates, which will be built using a new, more economical and efficient manufacturing method.

These vehicles will, according to the manufacturer, be lighter and more aerodynamic. These two aspects aim to improve the efficiency of vehicles with the aim of reducing their energy consumption. The designers will use, among other things, some design elements found in supersonic missiles. The goal is to achieve an aerodynamic coefficient of 0.19 or less, which is somewhat ambitious. Currently, the most aerodynamic car is Hyundai IONIQ 6, which achieves a drag coefficient of 0.21.

In total, Toyota estimates that it will sell 3.2 million vehicles annually in 2030. Of this number, electric vehicles with existing technology will account for approximately 1.5 million copies, while vehicles resulting from “Phase 3” will account for 1.7 million.

RPM review

After questioning the widespread development of electric cars, Toyota She is now working hard towards her goal of being considered great in the field. It’s good news that such a large manufacturer is finally putting a lot of effort into developing new cars; More competition also means that products are better suited to consumer needs. It now remains to be seen how the builder, like all others for that matter, will actually perform. We have predictions here, but the water has time to flow under the bridges until the first next-generation battery launches.