Toyota plots long-range EVs for 2020

Reports in Japanese newspaper Nikkei claim Toyota will launch long-range EVs from start of next decade

By Sam Sheehan, Autocar UK

08 Nov 2016

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The Toyota iQ EV Prototype is the successor to the FT-EV II as an electric vehicle based on the iQ chassis.

Toyota will produce a line-up of long-range electric vehicles from the start of the next decade, according to reports in Japanese newspaper Nikkei.

The paper claimed that the first model, due in 2020, would lead a line-up of EVs capable of travelling more than 186 miles/297 kilometres on a single charge.

Without citing any sources, it said Toyota would create a new team in 2017 to develop its long-range EV line-up. It added that the models could be built upon existing vehicle architecture or alternatively use all-new underpinnings.

Toyota is yet to respond to Nikkei’s claims. It’s expected to release an official statement later today.

Toyota has previously said hydrogen fuel-cell-power is its primary choice for zero-emission models, and its Mirai was the first vehicle of this type to go on sale in Britain.

However, a lack of hydrogen infrastructure in several of the world’s global markets and expensive production costs mean sales numbers are small – just 15 Mirais arrived in Britain this year, priced from more than £65,000 (Rs 63.97 lakh) each.

More conventional battery-powered EVs could therefore be a more attractive option for Toyota’s first mass-market EV cars.