Toyota claims going all-in on EVs is bad for environment

Producing millions of hybrid vehicles will have a better impact on CO2 output than creating a smaller number of pure EVs from the same quantity of lithium.

According to a report, Toyota claims that the decision made by its rival carmakers to transition into a full-EV brand is a mistake & could not only be a "bad" business decision but also bad for the environment. Toyota says it has data to prove the claims made.

Toyota's Chief Scientist, Gill Pratt, mentions how it makes more sense for car brands to explore and offer vehicles with different energy sources like hybrids & hydrogen, rather than concentrating on EVs alone. Pratt states that although EVs don't produce any emissions, it comes down to the availability of lithium used to produce the battery packs on EVs.

He predicts that the auto industry will soon face a shortage of lithium and many other minerals required for the production of battery packs. He also added that with the number of EVs skyrocketing in demand, there would also be a lack of charging facilities. With the limited amount of lithium available, it makes better sense to share the mineral between hybrid vehicles. Pratt stated that producing millions of hybrid vehicles will have a better impact on CO2 output than creating a smaller number of pure EVs from the same quantity of lithium.

Gill Pratt also outlined a hypothetical model considering a fleet of 100 combustion vehicles emitting a combined total of 250 g/km of CO2. A fixed quantity of lithium, if used entirely to make a 100 kWh battery, will power one long-range EV, but the remaining 99 vehicles in the fleet will still be ICE-powered, bringing the CO2 emission down to just 248.5 g/km. However, if the same amount of lithium is spread across 90 traditional hybrids, leaving 10 pure ICE-powered cars - the average CO2 emissions drop down to 205 g/km.

Source: Automotive news