- Toyota is planning to start building extended-range EVs in China, Nikkei Asia reported.
- The plan calls for 200,000 units in 2027 and double that the following year.
- Toyota would join several Chinese automakers, plus Scout, Hyundai, Jeep, and Ram, in experimenting with this new-ish powertrain.
Toyota is planning a big push into extended-range EVs (EREV) in China, Nikkei Asia reports. The company has embraced a "multi-pathway" approach that includes hybrids, plug-in hybrids, full EVs, and hydrogen cars. Now it's diving into the latest hybrid powertrain to gain steam.
EREVs are driven entirely by electric motors but have internal combustion generators to add range to the battery. According to Nikkei, Toyota plans to start building a few hundred vehicles per month in China, with production ramping up to about 200,000 units in 2027. The company reportedly plans to double that in 2028.
Those are huge figures, considering that, as Nikkei notes, Toyota sold around 380,000 plug-in vehicles (200,000 EVs and 180,000 PHEVs) last year.
The move makes sense in that China is the world's biggest EV market, and EREVs have been gaining traction there for years. So Toyota may not want to be left out as other automakers snag that growing market. One example: Xiaomi, one of China's fastest-moving startups, just expanded into extended-range SUVs with its SkyNomad series. On top of that, Nikkei notes, China has excluded hybrids from tax incentives that apply to other electrified cars.
"Competition in China is intensifying as the market fixates on battery EVs, leading to price wars among automakers," a Toyota executive said, per Nikkei. "We need to take steps to avoid being dragged into that competition."
Toyota is just the latest company to (reportedly) dive into the extended-range EV world. The vehicles are already popular in China. Plus, manufacturers like Ram, Ford, Jeep, Scout Motors, Hyundai, and Kia are rolling them out in the U.S. in the coming months and years. The focus right now is on larger vehicles like pickup trucks and bulky SUVs, models that are difficult to electrify in a cost-effective manner. Hyundai is making an EREV Santa Fe, while Ford is bringing the tech to the F-150.
Does that mean we'll see an EREV Toyota Land Cruiser in the U.S.? Nobody really knows how popular EREVs will be here, since the powertrain is virtually untested. But if they prove successful, the king of hybrids may want to jump in here too.
