Toyota May Delay EV Strategy For Dedicated Platform

Toyota may have been slow to come out with all-electric vehicles, but the Japanese automaker is looking to change that. After seeing how well electric brands like Tesla are doing, Toyota is reportedly trying to speed its EV production up, but is looking to stray from its original plan by focusing on coming out with updated components instead of a bunch of new models.

Last year, Toyota made headlines when it announced a massive investment of $38 billion into coming out with 30 electric vehicles. Earlier this October, Reuters reported that the Japanese brand was looking to update its electric-car strategy to be more competitive in the growing landscape. Instead of focusing on coming out with 30 EVs, Toyota reportedly switched its focus to making improvements to its existing electric architecture or focusing on coming out with a new one.

Now, Reuters has returned with a new report that claims Toyota is looking to provide its suppliers with a new outline on its EV strategy. The automaker could be meeting with key suppliers as early as next year claims the outlet.

Instead of focusing on flooding the market with new electric vehicles, Toyota is now looking toward improving the “competitiveness of EVs being planned for this decade,” states the outlet. By increasing the adoption of more advanced technology for electric drive systems, heating and cooling systems, and electronics that take energy from the grid and store it in batteries, Toyota is hoping to come out with more competitive electric cars. The change in its strategy could result in delayed EVs.

A working group at Toyota has been charged with outlining ways for the automaker to improve its EVs, one of which includes a successor to its latest EV platform, which is called the e-TNGA. The first EVs from Toyota that are classified under the beyond zero name will utilize the e-TNGA platform. But the second state of the brand’s plans is where Toyota is looking to make changes with its suppliers. The working group at Toyota is thinking about dropping the e-TNGA platform, which is now three years old, and coming out with a dedicated platform for EVs.

The issue with the current e-TNGA platform is that it features a compromised design that allows Toyota to build electric cars on the same assembly line as gas-powered vehicles. But the design stops Toyota from having electric vehicles with high-tech innovations, like the ones that have set Tesla apart from the rest of the industry, states Reuters.

The changes that Toyota is looking to make would be for all-electric replacements for the bZ4X and the Lexus RX, claims Reuters. The updates that the Japanese automaker is looking to make to the EVs would “close the gap with Tesla Inc on cost and performance.”

Source: Reuters

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