According to a top official of Toyota Motor’s India unit on Thursday, the Japanese automaker Toyota Motor (7203.T) plans to introduce cars with longer-lasting and faster-charging solid-state batteries in the next few years.
Solid-state batteries hold the potential to significantly increase the driving range of electric vehicles (EVs), which is a crucial component of Toyota’s June strategic shift aimed at catching up to Chinese competitors like BYD and Tesla in the EV race.
In order to develop and construct all-solid-state batteries, Toyota and oil refiner Idemitsu Kosan (5019.T) announced last year that they would collaborate. The goal was to commercialise the batteries in 2027 and 2028 before going into full-scale mass production.
At an investment summit in the western state of Gujarat, Vikram Gulati, the country head of Toyota Kirloskar Motor, stated, “The solid-state batteries have a range of 1,200 km (750 miles) and can be charged in 10 minutes.”
Big international and Indian corporations have disclosed investment plans worth about $33 billion during the three-day event, which has drawn thousands of chief executives, investors, and diplomats.
Additionally, Toyota Motor indicated that while it would resume operations at its Japanese car facilities on Monday, it would make separate decisions regarding operations starting on January 15 due to the impact of the earthquake on New Year’s Day.
Toyota stated in a press release on Sunday that it will use parts that are in stock outside of the impacted areas because the magnitude 7.6 earthquake that devastated Japan’s western coast is still causing aftershocks, and many of its suppliers and their affiliates are in those areas.
After suppliers Aisin and Sumitomo Electric sustained damage from the earthquake, Toyota President Koji Sato stated on Friday that the business was attempting to comprehend the state of the supply chain.
According to Industry Minister Ken Saito, as of Friday, over 80% of the 200 enterprises that have operations in the earthquake-affected areas had either resumed production or will do so shortly.
Following an earthquake that slammed the Noto peninsula, northwest of Tokyo, more than 200 people are still missing and over 100 confirmed dead.
Furthermore, despite poor demand at the bottom end of the market, just four companies—Hyundai, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Toyota—hit new highs in a record year for automobile sales. Maruti Suzuki, the market leader, reached 1.71 million vehicles, although it was still less than the 1.73 million pre-Covid record it set in 2018.
