Toyota Plans Ten EVs Despite Claiming They Don't Sell

Toyota Claims EVs Don't Sell While Preparing Ten Models

Why does Toyota state it doesn't manufacture electric cars because they don't sell? The short answer is that this statement, attributed to Jack Hollis, the brand's top executive in the United States, directly contradicts the simultaneous announcement of a new range of pure electric vehicles with solid-state batteries for the early next decade and the launch of ten electric models in less than ten years. The long answer is that the electric car has become a battleground where thermodynamics, battery prices, the power grid, and considerable cynicism collide.

The trigger is a news item from Motor.es that collects this declaration and, read in full, contradicts itself. What trinc is not a discussion about ecology: it is a fight over numbers, performance, and who pays the bill.

What Toyota Said and Why the Headline Collapses

Hollis's statement arrived, according to the media outlet itself, just as the Japanese brand was launching its most ambitious project in electric vehicles, intending to release a range equipped with solid-state batteries. In parallel, the same outlet reported that Toyota will launch ten new electric models in less than ten years. The headline about non-sales coexists with the announcement of the company's largest electric offensive.

There is an explanation that fits: Toyota isn't giving up on electric vehicles, but it doesn't want its calendar imposed on it. The brand has been betting on hybrids and hydrogen for years, arguing that the market dictates terms. If customers don't buy, we don't manufacture. Simple. The problem is that customers aren't buying hydrogen either, and there the argument gets tangled.

Thermodynamics Enters the Conversation

Performance is the field where the debate heats up most. An electric motor hovers around 90% efficiency compared to 30% for a gasoline engine, according to calculations used in the exchange. The counter-argument is that this energy must be generated beforehand, and that fuel's energy density is far superior to that of batteries, making internal combustion engines still competitive in certain uses.

The nuance that confuses both sides is the hybrid. The idea behind a hybrid is that the thermal engine always works in its maximum performance zone: in the city, with low load, moving the car and charging the battery simultaneously. This doesn't close the debate; it reopens it: if the hybrid optimizes the thermal engine, why can't pure electric optimize generation at power plant scale?

Price, Grid, and Grandma's Refrigerator

The commercial argument is the most earthly: if electric vehicles were priced like a bare-bones gasoline Dacia, they would fly off the shelves. At €30,000, they'd be snapped up instantly. Some raise the figure to €60,000, adding manufacturing costs and the battery recycling expense, which, it is argued, the law requires to be covered but isn't enforced.

The other objection concerns the grid. If everyone in a town of 10,000 inhabitants plugs in their car at night, what happens to the electricity network? The most repeated answer is historical: the same was said about refrigerators, and the grid didn't collapse. Raising voltage from 125 to 230 volts allowed nearly double the power through the same copper wires. The parallel has limits: a car isn't an appliance, and its charging isn't gradual if a expiration date is set for the internal combustion engine.

Batteries: The Promise That Has Been Arriving for Years

Every few months, a miracle battery appears. The latest mentioned in the conversation is a lithium-sulfur one, with double the energy density and durability similar to lithium-ion. The skeptical response is immediate: how many such news items have we swallowed? The underlying problem is physical. Putting 80 kW into a battery in five minutes is, today, insane. The alternative defended from that trench is synthetic fuel: it is produced continuously, stored, and refueled in moments.

Meanwhile, the fire of a Tesla that reignited after being extinguished serves as ammunition for skeptics. Fires of chemical origin are the most complicated, and if the source is in the cells, locating the culprit in a chassis full of independent modules complicates the task.

Hydrogen and the Argument That Doesn't Close

The most uncomfortable question is why Toyota manufactures hydrogen cars, which sell even less, if demand is the criterion. There is no closed answer in the conversation. What exists is a pattern: the brand invests in several technologies at once and lets the market decide. That, in a sector with regulatory deadlines, reads as a way to avoid taking a stand.

The summary of the situation is uncomfortable for everyone. Electric vehicles do not currently have a clear performance advantage over thermal ones except for silence, and their takeoff depends on the battery, price, and grid. Thermal engines have their days counted by decree, not by the market. And in the middle, a brand that says one thing and announces the opposite. If electric cars were such a bad business, there wouldn't be ten models on the way. If they were such a good business, there wouldn't need to be a ban on the other.

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Scattered Data That Orders the Noise

• Electric motor efficiency: around 90%, compared to 30% for gasoline.
• Price attributed to an electric vehicle: €30,000; up to €60,000 adding manufacturing and battery recycling.
• Express charging: putting 80 kW into a battery in five minutes is deemed insane.
• Amortization of solar panels: between 10 and 20 years depending on installation, not the 3-5 promised.