Toyota, one of the world’s largest automakers, is planning to invest 4 trillion yen ($35 billion) to build a full lineup of 30 battery-powered electric vehicles by 2030.
It aims to also increase global sales of battery electric vehicles by 3.5 million units a year by the end of the decade, CEO Akio Toyoda said Tuesday.
Most of Toyota’s current electric vehicle sales are hybrid electric cars that are powered by a combination of an internal combustion engine and battery-operated electric motors. Battery-only EVs make up only a fraction of its current sales.
Toyota is ramping up its electric vehicle production schedule, vowing to release 30 electric vehicles by 2030 rather than just 15 EVs by 2025, as was previously promised. The Japanese automaker also vowed to sell 3.5 million battery EVs globally by 2030 and to transform Lexus into an EV-only brand by 2035.
The company said it would invest 2 trillion yen ($17.6 billion) in battery vehicle technology, an increase over its previous commitment of 1.5 trillion yen ($13.6 billion).
Toyota said that Lexus will launch EVs in all segments by 2030, go all-EV in Europe, North America and China by 2030, and stop selling combustion engine vehicles completely in 2035.
Similar plans have been announced by Ford, Volkswagen and Jaguar Land Rover as traditional automakers are facing severe competition from Tesla, which in no time has become the most valuable carmaker.
