Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

Thanks to CTOnews.com netizen Alejandro86 for the clue delivery! Toyota executives have recently been criticized by electric car industry leaders such as Tesla for their comments against pure electric vehicles in Australia.

Australia's Electric Vehicle Council (EVC) said Toyota took this view because they hesitated and lost market share in pure electric vehicles.

From the very beginning, Toyota has clearly opposed the full development of pure electric vehicles. Under Mr. Toyoda, the company has lobbied against stricter emissions rules.

Despite Toyoda's resignation in January, Toyota remains opposed to pure electric vehicles. Sean Hanley, Toyota's vice-president for sales, marketing and franchising for Australia, said last week: "Hybrid electric vehicles are a better fit than pure electric vehicles for most consumers right now. "

Hanley's argument remains against pure electric vehicles, pushing instead for hybrid vehicles, which Toyota has long dominated the market.

He added: "Pure electric vehicles currently make sense in places like Norway, where most of the energy is renewable and revenues are higher, but Australia is not Europe. "

Toyota accounted for nearly 90 per cent of hybrid car sales in Australia last year, while pure electric car sales in Australia are growing.

Despite a slow start to pure electric vehicles, which account for only 3.8 per cent of total local car sales in 2022, more and more Australia are buying electric vehicles.

Electric vehicle sales in Australia are expected to grow by 80 per cent by 2023 and now account for 7.3 per cent of the total new car market. More than 65,000 Australia people have bought pure electric vehicles because of the affordable prices of electric vehicles such as BYD Atto 3 and Tesla Model Y.

Rohan Patel, Tesla's vice president of public policy, responded to Toyota executives 'comments on social media, saying that "Mr. Hanley is clearly not an expert on Australia's power grid or the speed of transition. "

Speaking about Australia's transition to renewable energy, Patel said thousands of Australia people were already using solar power, 100 per cent clean electricity, to drive electric cars.

Renewables accounted for 8 per cent of Australia's electricity consumption in 2009, but have now risen to about 32 per cent. Australia plans to increase its share of renewable energy to 82 per cent by 2030.

Although Australia imports about 90 per cent of its oil, it is one of the fastest growing producers of renewable energy.

Patel said it was natural for Australia to switch to electric vehicles faster. He added that they are "too smart to be fooled by cynical PR that is just trying to slow the transition to sustainable transportation and help sell fuel cars in the short term. "

Behyad Jafari, chief executive of the Electric Vehicles Council of Australia, also backed Patel's view. He said the comments were "contrary to the best interests of Australia consumers and the Australia economy who want to save on fuel costs." "

Jafari explained that Toyota's Hanley is "belittling the battery industry, and we are the people who can supply electric vehicle batteries to the world. "

He added: "It's an attempt by them to justify their failure rather than admit mistakes. They are moving too slowly in the electric car market. "

Although Toyota remains Australia's largest carmaker, its dominant position in the market is slipping. Toyota's sales in Australia have fallen by 21,000 vehicles this year, while Tesla's sales have increased by nearly 24,000.

As of September, Tesla Model Y has become the best-selling SUV in Australia, surpassing Toyota RAV4, Ford Ranger and Mazda CX-5.

As Patel and Jafari say, Australia has a huge opportunity to capitalise on the growing demand for electric vehicles.

Australia is one of the world's largest lithium reserves, accounting for more than 50% of global supply.

Toyota's view is not new. Hanley said he would "lobby for a looser standard time frame to reduce pollution without narrowing the range of vehicles available" earlier this year.

Toyota has long lobbied against the promotion of pure electric vehicles because it is not Toyota's forte.

Toyota has relied on hybrid technology, ignoring earlier investments in pure electric vehicles. The company's first all-electric car, the bZ 4X SUV, has several problems that have slowed its launch.

Toyota has since announced a series of innovative initiatives, including new battery technologies, production methods and designs to improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of future electric vehicle models.

Toyota sold 76457 all-electric vehicles as of September, but only 1% of total sales.

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