There is no fear of saying that Toyota comes late to the “game”. electric cars. The Japanese company has made history with its self-charging hybrid vehicles (HEV) over the past few decades, but the next step is clearly defined and marked on the calendar.
From 2026 Toyota’s entire arsenal will enter the electric car market. According to Goldman Sachs, Toyota cars will account for barely 0.3% of all electric vehicles sold worldwide in 2022 It wants to reach 1.7 million by 2030.
The ambitions are very big, although they are a few steps behind brands like Tesla and Co. But at the same time, Her demands and her self-confidence are enormous. to the point that, among other things, you want to look at Elon Musk’s electric cars face to face, and Close the gap increase in sales of electric cars with the competition within a very short time.
And to achieve this, there is nothing better than resorting to them new technologies but also captivate the “Old School”. famous lean vehicle manufacturing processes with which the Japanese want to make up for the ground lost in this area in recent years.
The “Kanban” work methods and workflows in Toyota factories in Japan are widely known and are being studied in business schools and universities. These methods have given the brand a boost in recent years thanks to the opportunities they offer: Inefficiency is eliminated and costs are reduced.
“The strength of Toyota manufacturing lies in our ability to respond to changing times,” said Toyota product director Kazuaki Shingo during a visit to journalists at one of its production plants.
It is Toyota production system Used self-propelled production lines, where electric vehicles are guided along the assembly line by sensors; This reduces the need for conveyor technology and increases flexibility.
Toyota is too “copy” some of Tesla’s ideas.: for example, the production of electric cars in modular sections, which allows parts to be reduced; or the Die casting system known as “gigacasting” (still in prototype form at Toyota), and which allows for the production of much larger aluminum parts.
But the Japanese have it too developed its own “economical” innovations, such as the use of molds that can be replaced quickly: in just 20 minutes, compared to the usual 24 hours. They also developed one autonomous transport robot Transporting new vehicles across a 40,000 square meter parking lot, reducing the workload and effort required for truck drivers.
The Bumper manufacturing technology with high gloss and no painting or automation processes with robotics and 3D shaping for night and weekend operations are further examples of Toyota’s performance, which goes beyond the actual production of cars and batteries.
Toyota will launch an electric car with a range of 800 km and a 40% lower price in 2026
Toyota batteries for everyone and every type
As far as the latter is concerned, you don’t want to be left behind and clarify all the points: Toyota is cooperating four different battery lines: three based on liquid electrolyte with ranges of up to 1,000 km in the high-performance version, and another solid state which will come onto the market later this decade and promises ranges of 1,200 km.
“We will need multiple options for batteries, just as we have different variants for engines.” “It is important to offer battery alternatives that are compatible with a wide range of models and customer needs,” says Toyota.
