TOKYO: Toyota Motor Corp. said Friday that it plans to release 10 electric vehicle models by 2026 to sell 1.5 million EVs a year.

The goal is part of the Japanese automaker’s plan, announced in December 2021, to release 30 EV models by 2030 to boost its annual EV sales to 3.5 million units globally.

The company will set up an organization focusing on next-generation EVs.

Still, Toyota said it remains committed to offering various carbon-free options to customers, including hydrogen-powered vehicles and gas-electric hybrid vehicles.

“The most important thing for Toyota is to pursue the (road) of making ever-better cars,” Koji Sato, who assumed the post of president at the automaker on Saturday, told a press briefing in Tokyo.

“As president, I’d like to focus my attention on team management,” said Sato, who took over from Akio Toyoda, who became chairman.

Toyota will aim to double the range an electric vehicle can travel on a single battery charge. The company will expedite a plan to build a battery factory.

The company plans to start manufacturing electric SUVs in the United States in 2025. In 2024, it will release two locally developed EV models in China. It will roll out an electric pickup truck in emerging market economies later this year.

The automaker aims to reduce its global carbon dioxide emissions per vehicle by over 50 pct in 2035 from 2019, by promoting emissions reductions in the entire process ranging from fuel production to vehicles running on roads.

JIJI Press