Toyota releases 2030 battery strategy with production capacity exceeding 200GWh

On September 7, Toyota Motor announced that it expects to invest approximately US$13.5 billion in power battery research and development and supply chain construction by 2030. In 2030, the annual battery production capacity could exceed 200GWh.

Toyota Motor CTO Masahiko Maeda said that Toyota has been working hard to reduce manufacturing costs and improve the endurance of lithium batteries used in plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) and pure electric vehicles (EV).

In terms of batteries, Toyota has reduced production costs by 30% or more by improving battery materials and structures. NiMH batteries and lithium-ion batteries used in hybrid (HEV) models will continue to evolve and upgrade based on the characteristics of the two batteries.

Toyota's bipolar nickel-metal hydride battery released this year has excellent instantaneous explosive power and will be installed in more models in the future. Lithium-ion batteries used in PHEVs and EVs will focus more on reducing costs and improving durability. To this end, Toyota is stepping up research and development, hoping to provide an upgraded version of the new lithium-ion battery after 2025.

Toyota's new Aqua, released in July this year, uses a new bipolar nickel-metal hydride battery developed jointly with Toyota Industries. This battery innovatively adopts a bipolar structure to achieve practical use of a driving vehicle battery. Compared with the battery installed in the old Aqua, the output density has increased by 2 times, making acceleration more powerful.

Regarding the next generation of EV batteries, the upcoming TOYOTA bZ4X draws on Toyota's EV technology, which has been continuously developed since the launch of the RAV4 EV in 1996, as well as the latest technologies related to HEV batteries and electrified vehicles. Toyota hopes to reduce battery capacity by reducing power consumption, and strives to reduce costs by more than 30% through the development of materials and structures.

For the whole vehicle, starting with the TOYOTA bZ4X, we will gradually reduce the power consumption per kilometer to achieve a 30% reduction. Through these research and development of vehicle and battery integration, we hope to achieve the goal of reducing the battery cost per vehicle by 50% compared to the TOYOTA bZ4X by 2030.

Regarding all-solid-state batteries, Toyota is considering developing batteries with high power, long driving range, and short charging time. In June last year, an electric vehicle equipped with all-solid-state batteries manufactured by Toyota was tested on a test route. It is now at the stage of obtaining vehicle driving data. After improvements based on these data, in August last year, the electric vehicle equipped with all-solid-state batteries officially obtained a license and began driving experiments.

During the development process, Toyota learned that the ions in the all-solid-state battery will move at high speed in the battery, thereby achieving high power output. This feature will be able to be used in HEVs to give full play to the advantages of all-solid-state batteries.

On the other hand, there is also the issue of short battery life, and we need to continue researching and developing solid electrolyte materials. By continuously discovering problems, we will strive to realize the practical application of all-solid-state batteries.

In addition, Toyota has also updated its power battery production capacity target. It is expected that by 2030, through the integrated development of vehicles and batteries, the cost of each vehicle will be reduced to less than 50%. In terms of supply, it will respond flexibly according to the changing needs of consumers. For example, when the popularity of electric vehicles exceeds expectations, Toyota will further increase production capacity and provide batteries with a capacity of more than 200GWh, higher than the 180GWh currently being discussed.

Toyota plans to invest about 1.5 trillion yen (about 88.12 billion yuan) in the improvement and research and development of its battery supply system from now until 2030. Toyota's partners in power batteries include CATL, Fudi Battery, Panasonic, Sony, Toshiba and other companies.

Toyota Motor said that by 2030, the company's annual sales of electric vehicles will reach 8 million. Among them, pure electric vehicles (BEV) and fuel cell vehicles (FCEV) will reach 2 million, and the remaining 1 million will be hybrid (HEV) models. This means that Toyota's electrification transformation is still mainly HEV, which is very different from the goal of Volkswagen, Daimler, BMW, GM and other giants to fully switch to pure electric.

According to Toyota's calculations, the carbon dioxide emissions reduction effect of every three HEVs is equivalent to that of one EV. HEVs are now relatively cheaper. For regions where renewable energy is about to be popularized, making full use of the electrification of HEVs can effectively reduce carbon emissions. For regions that already have abundant renewable energy, it is very important to accelerate the popularization of zero-emission vehicles such as EVs and FCEVs.

Toyota believes that the solution is to reduce carbon emissions, or how to get carbon emissions as close to "zero" as possible. Different regions have different energy conditions and different options for reducing carbon dioxide emissions. In order to expand the options for achieving carbon neutrality, it is necessary to actively try various solutions. Based on the above ideas, Toyota is promoting all-round electrification business to provide different regions with "sustainable and practical vehicles" that can meet customer needs and reduce carbon dioxide emissions.