Toyota to invest $18 billion in battery tech

Toyota has hit back at criticism it’s lagging in the electric vehicle (EV) field by vowing to invest 1.5 trillion yen ($A18.4 billion) in battery technology, including solid-state, by 2030.

By then, Toyota plans to sell eight million electrified vehicles annually, including two million battery-electric EVs and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles (FCEVs), although a specific powertrain breakdown wasn’t revealed.

As a result of the hefty investment, which will be used to boost development of solid-state batteries as well as its trademark nickel-metal hydride tech and next-gen lithium-ion power packs, the Japanese car-maker expects to halve the cost of batteries in the second half of this decade.

Apart from the reducing the cost of its EVs and increasing the lifespan of its hybrid vehicles, Toyota also wants to secure 200 gigaWatt-hours of battery supply by the end of the decade – up from its previous goal of 180 gigawatt-hours.

In a livestreamed media and investor briefing yesterday, Toyota’s chief technology officer Masahiko Maeda said the world’s biggest car-maker is on track to deliver solid-state batteries by 2025, after testing a working prototype since 2020.

Once available, Toyota says it will consider using the new batteries in its hybrid vehicles as well as pure EVs,

Solid-state batteries, which are composed of solid electrolytes as opposed to the liquids used in more common lithium-ion batteries, are said to be safer, lighter, quicker to recharge and able to boost driving range over comparable batteries.

Other car-makers, including Volkswagen, BMW and Ford, have already begun investing in the next-generation battery tech, however, it is yet to be offered in any production model.

At the same time, Toyota says it will commercialise a next-gen lithium-ion battery in the second half of this decade, bring reductions in cost and increases in performance.

Currently, Toyota employs Li-Ion battery tech in its plug-in hybrid vehicles, none of which are available in Australia.

In tandem, Toyota says it’s also working to improve its long-running nickel-metal hydride battery, as seen in the first Prius in 1997 and every other Toyota hybrid sold Down Under, via a new ‘bipolar structure’ that could bring increased power density.

Toyota’s first fully-electric model, the quirky and futuristic bZ4X mid-size SUV, is set to launch globally by mid-2022 and will be released in Australia soon after.

The Japanese car-maker, which has sold 18.1 million hybrids in the past 24 years and aims to be carbon-neutral by 2050, says the battery used in the bZ4X will maintain 90 per cent of its performance after a decade of use.

Maeda said the bZ4X will achieve a 30 per cent cost reduction by employing cheaper construction materials and reducing its energy consumption, and that Toyota could cut the cost of its battery by a further 50 per cent by 2030.

“We are focusing on safety, long service life and high-level quality to produce good, low-cost and high-performance batteries,” he said.

“What Toyota values the most is to develop batteries that its customers can use with peace of mind.”