Toyota is reviving my enthusiasm for the positive influence of big business on sustainability in Japan — Oh-o-o-o I hope you too have that feeling by the end of this post about Toyota’s 30 Types of Electric Cars and a Sustainable City.
Toyota’s 30 Types of Electric Vehicles Pledge
President Akio Toyoda of Toyota motors has been notoriously anti-BEV (Battery powered Electric Vehicles) and has long pushed for the adoption of HEV (Hydrogen powered Electric Vehicles) with good reason– powering vehicles from converted water seemed like the best zero-emissions path. Toyota’s HEV MIRAI certainly has a lot of potential if hydrogen power can be made more efficiently with renewable energy and a refilling infrastructure can be established.
Toyota North America’s MIRAI senior engineering manager Jackie Birdsall shared her personal experience with the MIRAI and her view of its future potential in this 2021 interview on Seeking Sustainability Live.
The 2020/2021 Tokyo Olympics was supposed to be a showcase for Toyota’s HEV zero-emissions Hydrogen-powered futuristic Tokyo, but the costs and refilling infrastructure hurdles disallowed the total adoption originally envisioned. Despite the hurdles, Toyota was still anti-EV and pushing for Hydrogen adopting in Japan in 2019 which effected other JP makers.
I’d driven Honda cars for years, but my honest Honda dealer couldn’t recommend any of their models when I shopped for an EV in 2019, we’re just not ready yet, he told me. I am so impressed with his honesty.
The Rise of the EV
The market had shifted by 2019 and by 2021 the worldwide EV demand was clear. Bloomberg cites Global EV Sales to hit 6.3 Million in 2021, an increase of 94% in 2021’s 3rdQ compared to 2020. Many experts believe Tesla has been a major EV influence on the automobile industry since its disruptive entry in 2003. Despite Elon Musk controversy, the cars have had stunning levels of popularity in recent years–TESLA Model3 was the best selling car of any type in Europe (for a month) in 2021.
In Japan, when I shopped around for an EV in 2019 I first checked with Japanese auto dealers but there were no EV’s in their showrooms. Once I test drove the Model3 in a trendy part of Tokyo and enjoyed its drive-ability, I happily put my order in. I also chose the Tesla Modlel3 for its supercharging infrastructure and the range I could get for the price.
The Model3 still seems to be the best EV on the market in Japan, but that may soon change as Toyota enters the market with some of its EV models as early as 2023.
Tesla likely applied pressure, but it was also the bold 2020 announcement by the Japanese government to ban gas-only car sales by 2030 that applied that necessary pressure to Toyota. As recently as summer 2021, President Akio Toyoda was reluctant to meet the 2030 targets stating huge job losses in Japan. As a major employer of more than 5.5 million in Japan and a key industry for the Japanese economy, this push-back was significant.
Yet the Japan government stuck to the 2030 goals as a main initiative necessary to meet its 2050 carbon neutral goals– there is a serious environmental impact of fossil-fuel vehicles in Japan,
About a fifth of carbon dioxide emissions in Japan are transportation related, including car exhaust. The Asahi Shimbun 12/4/2020
Talking about his change of heart about EV’s Akio Toyoda says,
I was not interested in Toyota’s past EV’s, but am getting more interested in the BEV’s we are developing for the future. I now think that electric motors have higher efficiency than gasoline-only powered vehicles– vehicles that are safe, faster, and fun-to-drive on various roads is a big change for our company.
Akio Toyoda in video How Serious is Toyota about Battery EV’s.
Toyota as the automobile world leader had shown the world that what they wanted was a hybrid car all the way back in 1997 when the PRIUS was first launched. Akio Toyoda stated that the company has actually has a long history of R&D for battery tech as far back as 2006 in lithium, so hopefully that will help them compete with other more established EV makers worldwide.
WOVEN City of the Future
One way President Akio Toyoda may still be able to demonstrate to the world that he is right about Hydrogen and so many other sustainable initiatives is via this innovative concept city project called WOVEN.
This model city is now recruiting experts, creators, technicians and entrepreneurs from across Japan and around the world. The aim of the test city is to demonstrate not only the potential of new clean-tech, but also accessibility and quality of life.
The aim is to power the city with circular innovation such as zero-emission hydrogen energy and storage in this residential and commercial design space. There are also important nods to Japan’s rich culture of design and tradition by utilizing traditional carpentry techniques. Natural walkways and separating vehicles and people is also an aim to create a healthy, safe, and highly-valued community design.
This Woven city of the future has broken ground in 2021 and the project is starting to take shape at the base of Mt.Fuji.
I introduced some of the ideas of this Toyota Woven City of the future in the 2nd episode of this month’s Sustainable Short-Takes and Updates talk between Hiroshima and Tokyo sustainable strategists Tove Kinooka and myself.
I’m very excited about this initiative as it offers a testing ground to find a true sustainable balance between the needs of people and planet with profits.
There is a dual focus here, not only how more efficient and sustainable technologies can work in a residential space, but also how greater mobility for people with accessibility issues and other important aspects of social equity can also be addressed.
Gender Imbalance
One hurdle to reaching utopia is the gender inequity at Toyota which I hope will be addressed this year as the projects develop– where are the women?
Toyota’s Sustainability Report states that as of June 2021,
10% of all officer positions were held by women, but they aim to meet their goal of 30% by 2030 which is in line with the Japanese government’s goal. Global Toyota
The public view of most industries and policymakers across Japan, however, is that women are kept out of decision-making or positions of influence and expertise– there need to be more top women in the public view to create empowerment. Unfortunately, from the unveiling of the 30 EV’s above to promotional materials for the Woven City, there are no women in view.
As gender inequity is a major hurdle to Japan meeting SDG targets, I hope to see Toyota start to address a better gender balance starting with this innovative Japan showpiece ideal perception of humanity’s future.
I’m eager to help shift that male-dominated perspective. It was wonderful to talk with Jackie Birdsall of Toyota North America and hope to interview a woman connected with this Woven City project in the Seek Sustainable Japan live talkshow sometime this year.
This is the perfect time to talk about social and environmental equity as well as to gain more insights on this challenging project as it develops.
Tove and I would also love to have a female speaker from Toyota Japan join our Women in CleanTech & Sustainability in Japan conference to be held in Tokyo, Hiroshima and online on March 21st.
Toyota’s 30 EV’s and Woven City could be great models for industry, cities, and policymakers around the world, as well as inspire billions of people across the world seeking out more sustainable solutions and strategies for life, work and travel.
These initiatives are amazing branding tools not only for Toyota, but also could be an amazing feather in Japan’s 2050 SDG’s and Carbon Neutral cap.
