Toyota promises EVs with 1,000 km of range from 2026

Toyota may be falling out of the EV race lately but it has big plans for the future. The company's CEO shed some light onto the company's plans for the future and that involves a whole lot of R&D and EVs in general.

Toyota has already established a so-called BEV Factory - a division inside Toyota tasked with developing EVs, batteries and everything EV-related. The team should introduce a new generation of EVs in 2026 with a range of at least 620 miles. The Japanese carmaker plans to use cheap LFP batteries for its near-future EVs by reducing the cost by 40% and improving efficiency by 20%. These batteries should be able to charge from 10 to 80% in just 30 minutes or less. As of now, Toyota is using these LFP batteries for its hybrid cars.

In the 2027-2028 period, Toyota expects to release its first solid-state battery-powered EV with an additional 20% improvement in efficiency, which would put the estimated range of up to 746 miles and charge from 10 to 80% should take not more than 10 minutes. However, the first solid-state battery cars would be hybrids.

Still, the company says it has made a big breakthrough in the field and it's very optimistic about delivering a market-ready product by 2028.

To achieve these ranges, Toyota is using AI to design its cars to improve aerodynamics and weight. The Chief Technology Officer also spoke of implementing a casting technology similar to Tesla's Cybertruck production process. It would significantly reduce the cost and make the chassis a tad more rigid too.

The CTO also touched on hydrogen, saying that a Hydrogen Factory unit within the firm should start working by the end of this month and is working closely with BMW in developing hydrogen-powered vehicles.

By 2030, Toyota believes that 1.7 million of its total 3.5 million electric Toyotas will be of the next-generation EV with at least a 620 miles range.

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