Wait, weren’t they on #TeamHydrogen?
Japanese automotive juggernaut Toyota has established an all-new division within its company with the sole focus of zero-emissions vehicle R&D, encompassing both electric- and hydrogen-powered vehicles. The ZEV Factory, as the division is called, is the latest gestation of a 50-strong team that began in 2016 under the direction of big boss Akio Toyoda.
However, ZEV Factory will be led by Shikegi Terashi, who’s the boss of Toyota’s advanced research & development. ZEV itself now oversees some 200 engineers, and its responsibilities encompass research, development, parts procurement, and production planning for all of Toyota’s electric and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, according to the report by The Mainichi.
What’s interesting is that while Toyota has remained one of the thought-leaders in terms of parallel hybrid powertrains, it’s been relatively slow to the plug-in hybrid and electric-car movement. We attributed that to their focus on hydrogen fuel-cell technology (which is developing strongly, it seems), with their sole zero-emissions fully-electric car being an electric RAV4 that’s only sold in the States as part of emissions-regulations requirements.
Of course the RAV4 EV sits alongside the Toyota Mirai FCV and the Prius Prime PHEV, but that’s basically the extent of Toyota’s non-ICE vehicles. But with the establishment of ZEV Factory, perhaps we’ll start seeing full-electric Toyotas sooner rather than later?
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