Toyota working on more BEVs, aerial mobility, and Woven City

Aside from transforming from a plain automaker to a mobility company that makes different types of smart, electrified vehicles, Toyota has unveiled its new mission – “Producing happiness for all.” That is evident in all three domains of its latest mobility-society vision.

According to the president and CEO Koji Sato, the two major themes that helped craft their future goals are carbon neutrality and developing next-generation battery-electric vehicles (BEVs), including harnessing fuel cell technology in motorsports and commercial vehicles.

Back in late 2021, former Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda (now Chairman of the Board of Directors) showcased its new line of upcoming BEVs. It consists of BEVs from both Lexus and Toyota which will serve as the brand's zero-emissions vehicles for the foreseeable future. This also includes Lexus' transformation to a fully-electric luxury brand by 2035.

“We will work to promote electrified vehicles and reduce CO2 emissions with leaving no one behind, including in emerging markets. Through this all-direction approach, we aim to reduce average CO2 emissions for vehicles we sell worldwide by 33% by 2030 and by more than 50% by 2035 compared to 2019. We will continue to promote decarbonization globally and steadily toward 2050,” said Sato.

Toyota will make their future vehicles “more electrified, intelligent, and diversified.” Aside from moving people and various goods, it will gather movement data and other information, link and process them to “provide seamless mobility experiences” and “new value-added services” connected to telecommunications and finance.

Toyota has laid out its plans over three domains. The first lets BEVs connect to the energy grid and become power sources to reduce society’s energy insecurity while running on the software platform Arene to allow them to communicate with various applications. The second is supporting the mobility of the elderly, people in depopulated areas, and citizens of emerging markets in various forms (BEVs and e-Palettes), including aerial mobility.

Finally, Toyota continues work on its Woven City. It will use a new logistics system that comes with city-integrated autonomous mobility, and a CO2-free hydrogen supply chain for the happy and healthy well-being of the people and the environment.

These are all lofty goals, but if Toyota can pull them off, our future will be bright, safe, and clean.