Toyota Pushes for EVs in China, India

Toyota will produce EVs in China and India beginning in 2020 as the automaker returns its attention to EVs after focusing heavily on hydrogen and hybrid vehicles for the last few years.

by Staff

November 23, 2017

Toyota Pushes for EVs in China, India — *Photo of the RAV4 EV in 2012 courtesy of Toyota.*

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*Photo of the RAV4 EV in 2012 courtesy of Toyota.*

Toyota will produce electric vehicles in China and India beginning in 2020 as the automaker returns its attention to EVs in the regions after focusing heavily on hydrogen and hybrid technology for the last few years.

The automaker will be rolling out an EV under the Toyota brand in China, and for India Toyota and Suzuki established a memorandum of understanding to produce EVs in the market, Toyota announced in separate releases.

Selling electric vehicles in China will mark the return of Toyota into the battery-powered vehicles market after halting production of the RAV4 EV in 2014, according to Bloomberg.

Suzuki is to produce EVs for the Indian market and will supply some to Toyota, while Toyota is to provide technical support, according to Toyota. Also, Toyota and Suzuki will conduct a comprehensive study of activities for the widespread acceptance and popular use of EVs in India.

India plans to ban gas powered vehicle by 2030, and China is looking to have two million EVs and hybrids on the road by 2019, according to Engadget.

In the meantime, Toyota has developed China-made hybrid units and expects to sell roughly 100,000 units of the Corolla Hybrid and Levin Hybrid models in 2017, both of which feature domestically-produced units, Toyota said in a release.

Toyota also continues its interest in fuel-cell technology, and it will study and evaluate the feasibility of using commercial vehicles in China to explore the potential usage of fuel cell technology, according to Toyota.

Other automakers, such as GM and Ford, said they will lroll out new electric vehicles in the near future.

Topics:India Suzuki Toyota Battery-Electric Vehicles China Green Fleet Global Fleet

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