Toyota is probably the least interested in battery-electric vehicles out of all the major automakers and in new comments this week, the company claimed that “nobody is selling electric vehicles at a profitable margin”.
During the same conference hosted by National Automobile Dealers Association where VW gave Tesla the nod for ‘proving electric cars are here to stay’, Toyota was much more skeptical about the electric revolution.
Bob Carter, executive vice president of sales for Toyota Motor North America, said about electric vehicles (via Bloomberg):
“On electrification, we see an opportunity in North America, but it’s much further down the road. The average vehicle today costs $34,000 and for many EVs, the battery costs $34,000. The economics are not there.”
Toyota has been more invested in hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and it has only introduced battery-electric vehicles when absolutely required by regulations.
Carter says that they still plan to enter the US market, but they are more focused in Europe and China, where the governments are pushing for more electric vehicles.
Earlier this week, Toyota debuted the all-electric C-HR/IZOA for the Chinese market.
He said that he doesn’t think any automaker is selling electric vehicles at a profit:
“This is going to be a slow evolution in the U.S. market, unlike in China and Europe where there are government regulations. Nobody is selling electric vehicles at a profitable margin.”
Earlier this month, Toyota opened some of its patents to help hybrid cars as it still resists all-electric vehicles.
