Toyota’s New Road To Carbon Neutrality – Toyota
Toyota has been ramping up efforts on its global initiative to become carbon neutral by 2050. Toyota South Africa aims to bolster its electrified vehicle line up in order to boost the New-Energy Vehicle (NEV) sales to 20% of its local line-up by 2025, and to at least 40% of its total sales by 2030.
It is important to note Toyota is one of the earliest Hybrid pioneers through the well-known Toyota Prius model and lesser known battery electric vehicle RAV4-EV.
According to Toyota, environmental consciousness is growing in SA and at least 32% of Toyota consumers would consider buying an electrified car. This is up from a rate of 19% from their last survey. This for all intents and purposes points out that Toyota consumers are shifting their views on electric models. Perhaps with the rising fuel costs in mind and the more varied availability of lower priced electrified models consumers have their heads turned. To satiate this hunger while being more environmentally conscious Toyota has launched the new Corolla Hybrid and RAV 4 GX Hybrid.
COROLLA HYBRID 1.8 XS — R419,900
The petrol-electric Corolla is sold in a single variant in XS specification.
A 1.8l petrol engine and electric motor provide a combined 90kW output and 163Nm for the front wheel drive sedan, with a fuel economy of just 3.5l /100km, providing a theoretical range of over 1,200km on a single tank. Gearbox functionality is served by a continuously variable transmission (CVT) and top speed is 180km/h. The fuel headaches might just become a subject of the past.
The mid-tier XS grade includes LED head and tail lamps with daytime running lights, cruise control, climate control, a reverse camera and a touchscreen audio system.
RAV4 GX HYBRID CVT — R555,300
The fifth-generation midsize SUV was released in a range of 2.0 and 2.5 petrol models, and the hybrid joining the ranks pairs a normally aspirated 2.5 petrol engine with an electric motor for total outputs of 160kW. The petrol engine supplies 221Nm of torque supplemented by 202Nm from the electric motor.
Paired with a CVT and front wheel drive, the car has a claimed 200km/h top speed and will sip just 4.7l / 100km, says Toyota.
However this is not a hybrid you can plug in to recharge. The models have a small battery that is juiced up by energy regenerated from the engine, which offers a limited electric-only range.
It’s a premium-feeling cabin with a stitched, soft-touch dashboard and eye catching metallic garnishes, and the spec sheet includes features such as keyless entry and starting, cruise control, touchscreen infotainment, a reversing camera and climate control. ■
CARBON NEUTRAL BY 2050
The message is clear – Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) wholeheartedly supports the Paris Agreement and accepts the challenge to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The Paris Agreement is a legally-binding international treaty on climate change and is aimed at reducing the emission of gases that contribute to global warming.
While this treaty was only adopted in 2015, Toyota has been innovating and investing in technology to reduce emissions and achieve carbon neutrality for well over 30 years. Toyota sells cars in 204 countries and regions around the world and has been making efforts to reduce CO2 emissions and drive clean-energy advances on many levels. This is with the realisation that in order for the motor industry to reach carbon neutrality, it will entail achieving zero CO2 emissions in all processes throughout the product lifecycle including manufacturing, transporting, operating, fueling and/or charging, as well as recycling and ultimately disposing of vehicles.
TMC’s chief production officer Masamichi Okada said Toyota aims to make its global factories carbon neutral by 2035. “We are striving to achieve green factories. Carbon neutrality provides us with an opportunity to fundamentally rethink manufacturing. Toyota will take on a variety of challenges to make its factories carbon neutral by 2035.”
Toyota has also led the way with more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker. It started in 1996 when Toyota developed and launched its first battery electric vehicle RAV4-EV. This was followed by the now iconic best-selling Prius, a petrol-electric hybrid, in 1997. The latter was the world’s first mass-produced hybrid electric vehicle. In 2014, Toyota launched its first emissions-free, fuel-cell electric vehicle, the Mirai.
Toyota is currently the world leader in hydrogen fuel-cell technology, and the Mirai which became the first mass-produced vehicle to use this technology won the World Green Car of the Year Award in 2016. The second-generation Mirai, launched in December last year, came with a boost in power as well as an increase in range – which is now up to 647km on a tank of hydrogen.
Related Articles
Related
Novus Holdings Invests R55m into Bytefuse
Successful AI projects in education place bright spotlight on SA startup Novus Holdings has announced a R55m investment in Bytefuse, an innovative artificial intelligence (AI) company, to enhance its capabilities to deliver enterprise scale AI solutions. Having...
SA’s Black Friday nightmare
Falling at the final hurdle? SA’s Black Friday nightmare: Falling at the final hurdle? The biggest sales event of the year is on our doorstep, as South African retailers and SMEs continue to prepare for Black Friday with equal measures of anticipation and anxiety....
Cybersecurity experts, IronTree, recognised on a global stage
Second win in a row demonstrates consistencySouth Africa may be ranked 6th in the world on the list of countries most affected by cybercrime, but one local company is making great strides to reduce these statistics. Cybersecurity experts, IronTree, received The...