Toyota Is Trying To Force Us To Keep Buying Gas Powered Vehicles

This matters, if you care about climate change and efforts to try and mitigate the environmental and societal damage from our carbon emissions. As laid out in an article from CNN, Toyota’s actions are, in this journalist's opinion, indefensible. I get that the company has invested billions in the R&D of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). I also understand that these actions come from a conservative Japanese company whose primary concerns are selling gas powered products and turning a profit while doing so. Yet, no other car company (Japanese or otherwise) is doing as much to try and limit our progress toward reducing carbon emissions from the single largest contributing factor: tailpipe emissions. The stunning truth is that Toyota leads all other car companies in lobbying governments around the world to keep us from taking the most significant steps to clean up our air and lower our carbon emissions (and they have been up to it for a while now).

It is especially difficult to accept Toyota’s stance, given the current need for HEVs and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) which Toyota is a leading producer of. We simply don’t have enough manufacturing capacity, material supply, cost controls, nor dense enough batteries (yet) to fully switch our new vehicle fleets over to all electric drivetrains, so HEVs and PHEVs are part of the long transition toward full electrification and Toyota should otherwise be a good faith partner given their investments in hybrid tech. But Toyota is not acting in good faith as we can see in this lengthy excerpt from the CNN article linked to above, which references a memo Toyota sent to its US dealerships last fall: 

Toyota Motor North America group vice president of government affairs, Stephen Ciccone, described the EPA’s EV proposal as “draconian,” saying it was: “Bad for the environment. Bad for the country. Bad for the consumer. And bad for the auto industry. Never before in the 120-year history of the US auto industry has an administration used its power more forcibly to dictate the future of the auto industry,” Ciccone wrote in the memo, saying the EPA’s mandate had caused an “existential crisis” in the industry. “For more than two years, Toyota and our dealer partners have stood alone in the fight against unrealistic BEV mandates,” Ciccone wrote, referring to battery electric vehicles. “We have taken a lot of hits from environmental activists, the media, and some politicians. But we have not — and we will not — back down.”

The “unrealistic” mandates are anything but. Electric cars have been gradually gaining market share in the US (and far more rapidly in the two other largest auto markets in the world, China and Europe) since 2011. As such, the auto industry has already had 13 years of lead time and the mandates for EV sales in the US allow for more than another decade of transition still to come. The better part of 25 years is nothing but realistic and Toyota is, frankly, on the wrong side of things here.

But what are we to make of Toyota’s actions, as consumers and citizens of the world? If we believe the facts that science lays out, we might describe Toyota’s behavior as desperate or greedy, or at least grossly misinformed. It might change our opinions of the storied brand and lead us to question its value (or values). If we are instead inclined not to believe the facts about carbon emissions and their effect on us and our environment, then we might applaud Toyota for their gumption and shrewdness. We might even rush out and buy a Toyota the next time we’re looking for a vehicle. Has this news changed your opinion of Toyota? Would you consider a different brand because of their actions, or would it affect your choices otherwise? Please leave your questions and comments below.

Images courtesy of Toyota.

Justin Hart has owned and driven electric vehicles for over 15 years, including a first generation Nissan LEAF, second generation Chevy Volt, Tesla Model 3, an electric bicycle and most recently a Kia Sorento PHEV. He is also an avid SUP rider, poet, photographer and wine lover. He enjoys taking long EV and PHEV road trips to beautiful and serene places with the people he loves. Follow Justin on Torque News Kia or X for regular electric and hybrid news coverage.