{"id":234438,"date":"2022-11-07T15:57:22","date_gmt":"2022-11-07T20:57:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=234438"},"modified":"2022-11-07T15:57:33","modified_gmt":"2022-11-07T20:57:33","slug":"environmental-groups-criticize-toyota-for-ev-reticence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2022\/11\/environmental-groups-criticize-toyota-for-ev-reticence\/","title":{"rendered":"Environmental Groups Criticize Toyota for EV Reticence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Environmentalists used the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Championship to criticize Toyota Motor Corp.\u2019s lack of urgency in shifting to an all-electric line-up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Toyota
Last fall Toyota committed to a 10-year, $3.4 billion plan to produce and sell EVs in the U.S. but it’s not enough for some environmentalists.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Additionally a new report placed the Japanese automaker on a list dominated by the world\u2019s largest oil and gas companies as the \u201cmost negative and influential companies on climate policy\u201d of 2022. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs the largest global auto manufacturer, Toyota has the ability to shift the worldwide market on EVs,\u201d said East Peterson-Trujillo, clean vehicles campaigner with Public Citizen\u2019s Climate Program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToyota is stuck in the past, betting the climate crisis, public health, and economic benefits won\u2019t push consumers toward cleaner, cheaper EVs. Toyota must leave its boring, polluting vehicles in the rearview mirror.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Toyota\u2019s top executive, Akio Toyoda, has long maintained moving to an all battery-electric line-up<\/a><\/u><\/strong> isn\u2019t best way the way to reduce carbon emissions around the world. He\u2019s recommended a mix of EVs, hybrids and other zero-emissions vehicles, like those powered by hydrogen fuel cells, are a better way to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Banner hits Toyota for \u201cboring cars\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Akio
Akio Toyoda as recently as last month was still espousing the superiority of hybrids.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Public Citizen had a plane circle the NASCAR race in Phoenix where a Toyota team was contending for the championship, towing a banner with the slogan, \u201cWant exciting? Drive electric. Want boring? Drive Toyota,\u201d which also represented a dig at the company\u2019s aforementioned chairman, Akio Toyoda, who is fond of saying there are now boring Toyotas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, a billboard truck circled the Phoenix Raceway displaying a video<\/a> calling on Toyota to fix its long-term strategy on EVs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week, Public Citizen, along with 16 other environmental organizations, called on Toyoda to commit the company to producing only zero-emissions vehicles. The letter urges the company to shift swiftly to EVs or risk obsolescence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"2022
Toyota’s still pushing ahead with its various plug-in hybrid models, like the 2022 RAV4 Prime.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Toyota reportedly is considering a major revision of its EV strategy<\/a><\/u><\/strong> in the face of rising competitive and political pressure in key markets around the world. Toyota executives also have defended the company\u2019s current strategy, saying battery-electric vehicles are still relatively expensive, which limits consumer demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, the charging network and the electric grids is not robust enough to support a rapid shift to EVs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Toyota also has long cited its fuel economy ratings and support for hybrid technology as part of record in caring for the environment and taking steps to slow climate change even though it has not promoted electric vehicles like other companies have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Environmentalists demand faster action on EVs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Public Citizen and its allies, however, are calling on Toyota to phase out internal combustion engine vehicles, including hybrids and plug-in hybrids by 2030 in the U.S. and Europe and 2035 globally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"2023
Toyota\u2019s base FWD version of the all-electric bZ4X starts at $42,000 before delivery fees, the AWD package climbing to $44,080.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The environmentalists also want Toyota<\/a><\/u><\/strong> to align the company\u2019s global advocacy and lobbying efforts with the goal of phasing out internal combustion engines and supporting policies that promote a 100% renewable energy economy-wide and to ensure 100% renewable energy use throughout its supply chains globally by 2035.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a letter to CEO Toyoda, the environmental groups asked Toyota to shift swiftly to EVs or risk obsolescence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYour refusal to lead a rapid transition to electric vehicles and your advocacy against ZEV policies not only contradicts what consumers want, but also harms them,\u201d the letter said. \u201cYour competitors have made much more progress and plan to go fully electric at a much quicker pace: General Motors, Volvo, Mercedes-Benz, and Ford have committed to work towards 100% zero-emission new car and van sales in leading markets by 2035.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

InfluenceMap, which since 2015 has monitored corporate climate lobbying in response to growing demand from investors and other stakeholders, reported Toyota remains the most negative and influential company from the Transport sector. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a list dominated by the world\u2019s largest oil and gas companies, Toyota ranked 10th on the \u201cmost negative and influential companies on climate policy\u201d of 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The InfluenceMap report has become a mainstream investor tool in assessing and engaging with companies and has been cited in over 2,000 media articles globally. It feeds into numerous NGO campaigns and helps the corporate sector engage more positively on climate policy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Toyota\u2019s environmental credentials have come under scrutiny again as more than a dozen environmental groups have taken the Japanese automaker to task over its lack of urgency to shift to an all battery-electric line-up. Those efforts included two protests at the NASCAR race near Phoenix last week. Get details at TheDetroitBureau.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20009,"featured_media":233799,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8,5,10,969,1347,9],"tags":[8571,8569,8568,8570,543],"make":[],"post-state":[],"category_old":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234438"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20009"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234438"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234438\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":234442,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234438\/revisions\/234442"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/233799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234438"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=234438"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=234438"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=234438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}