- Toyota said it aims to launch next-generation lithium-ion batteries in 2026, offering longer ranges and quicker charging.
The automaker said on Tuesday that Toyota would introduce high-performance, solid-state batteries and other technologies to improve the driving range and cut costs of future electric vehicles (EVs), a strategic pivot that sent its shares higher. The Japanese giant’s technology roadmap, covering aspects as varied as next-generation battery development and a radical redesign of factories, amounted to the automaker’s fullest disclosure of its plan to compete in the fast-growing market for EVs, where it has lagged behind rivals led by Tesla.
The plan comes a day before an annual shareholders meeting where governance and strategy – including a slow pivot to battery EVs under former CEO Akio Toyoda – will be scrutinised. Toyota said it aims to launch next-generation lithium-ion batteries in 2026, offering longer ranges and quicker charging.
It also trumpeted a “technological breakthrough” that addresses durability problems in solid-state batteries and said it is developing means to mass produce those batteries, targeting commercialisation over 2027-2028. Solid-state batteries can hold more energy than current liquid electrolyte batteries. Automakers and analysts expect them to speed the transition to EVs by addressing a major consumer concern: range.
Still, such batteries are expensive and likely to remain so for years. Toyota will hedge with better-performing lithium iron phosphate batteries, a cheaper alternative to lithium-ion batteries that have spurred EV adoption in China, the world’s largest vehicle market. At the high end of the market, Toyota said it would produce an EV with a more efficient lithium-ion battery offering a range of 1,000 km (621 miles). By comparison, the long-range version of the lithium-ion-powered Tesla Model Y, the world’s best-selling EV, can drive for about 530 km based on U.S. standards.
An EV powered by a solid-state battery would have a range of 1,200 km and a charging time of just 10 minutes, Toyota said. By comparison, the Tesla Supercharger network – the largest of its kind – offers the equivalent of 321 km of charge in 15 minutes. Toyota did not detail expected costs or required investment for the plans.
The roadmap detailed on Tuesday showed that under new CEO Koji Sato, Toyota had adopted much of the revamp that engineers and planners have been developing as options for months. Toyota sold almost 10.5 million vehicles in 2022 and has a market value of about $254 billion. By contrast, Tesla sold one-eighth as many vehicles yet are valued at around $791 billion, a premium reflecting investor belief in Tesla’s growth potential. Toyota has long said it wants to offer consumers a choice of new-energy vehicles, including petrol-electric hybrids, hydrogen fuel cells, and battery EVs, as part of the industry’s transition from petrol-powered vehicles.