Toyota, Lexus unveil EVs heading to SA

At its annual State of the Motoring Industry address, Toyota South Africa Motors shared its roadmap for its electric vehicle plans and gave the media a sneak peek of its EVs heading to SA next year.

Toyota EVs – Beyond Zero

Toyota’s EVs will fall under the sub-brand “Beyond Zero” and its first EV, the bZ4X, will be here sometime next year, whereas the Lexus RZ will launch in January next year. Both will be second-generation models.

Andrew Kirby, CEO of Toyota SA, says the company hopes to sell 1.5 million battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) globally by 2026, as part of its milestone to sell 3.5 million EVs by 2030, from a projected 30 BEV model line-up in the future.

He added that Lexus would become a 100% BEV company in China, Europe and North America by 2030, and in the rest of the world, including South Africa, by 2035.

Kirby says Toyota is looking at a range of different breakthroughs regarding battery technology, and by 2026, we will see significant enhancements in the range, capacity for charging speeds, size of the batteries and cost.

Kirby says: There are a number of different chemical compositions that we will be commercialising in the next few years, and from 2026 onwards, we’re going to see a range of next-generation battery electric vehicles being made available all over the world, including South Africa.

This impacts not only BEVs, but also hybrids and plug-in hybrids, adds Kirby. “We’ll see significant advances in the range of those vehicles, and they will become a lot more compelling in the future.”

Kirby adds: Solid state [batteries] will be a very interesting product for us; at the moment it is showing a lot of promise and will be commercialised around 2027 and 2028.

TSAM has eleven new energy vehicles (NEVs) on its local line-up, which includes hybrids and plug-in hybrids, and will expand the portfolio by four in 2024, and a further eight in 2025.

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