Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/587664
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 18 OCTOBER 2015 Motoring III Toyota outlines ambitious plan to slash CO2 TOYOTA Motor Corp. aims to sell 30,000 fuel cell vehicles and 7 million additional hybrids by 2020 as part of a sweeping new environ- mental plan to slash carbon diox- ide emissions. The carmaker's senior executives outlined the objectives on Wednes- day as the Toyota Environmental Challenge 2050, aiming to all but eliminate the carbon footprint of its fleet and factories. Among the goals, Toyota targets a 90 percent cut in average carbon dioxide emissions from new vehi- cles by 2050, compared with 2010 levels. And more ambitiously, it aims to achieve zero carbon diox- ide emissions at factories in that timeframe. The vision reduces the traditional internal combustion engine to just the tiniest sliver of Toyota's total deployment by 2050. The goals signal a ramped-up push by Toyota to establish itself as a global clean car leader. And they dovetail with last year's release of Toyota's Mirai hydrogen fuel cell vehicle and next month's launch of the next-generation Prius flagship hybrid. Toyota's focus on hydro- gen and hybrid technologies draws a clear battle line against other car manufacturers which staked much of their own green car strategy on clean diesels. "Let us resolve at least one of the problems of the 21st century," Toyota Chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada, the chief engineer of the original Prius, said at an environmental forum. "We wanted to mobilize all of Toyota's strengths." Energy shift The push calls for ramping up electrified drive-trains, wind- ing down reliance on fossil fuels and turning to renewable energy sources, especially in the form of hydrogen. Indeed, Toyota said it now aims to sell 30,000 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles by 2020. That compares with Toyota's produc- tion plan of just 2,000 such vehicles in 2016. To help, Toyota will start selling hydrogen fuel cell buses in early 2017. In hybrids, Toyota wants to achieve annual sales of 1.5 mil- lion vehicles and reach cumulative sales of 15 million hybrids by 2020. Toyota sold its first hybrid vehicle back in 1997. Toyota is now selling around 1.27 million hybrids annu- ally. It notched cumulative sales of 8.05 million this past summer. "Carbon dioxide emissions while driving will become close to zero," Senior Managing Officer Kiyotaka Ise said. "There will be a shift in the en- ergy used by vehicles." Development of high-capacity solid-state batteries will improve the performance of electrified drivetrains, while more energy-ef- ficient semiconductors deliver fur- ther fuel savings, Toyota said. At the same time, further cost reduc- tions will make once-pricey hybrid technology mainstream and easily affordable. For more information on Toyota and its products visit the Toyota showroom situated in Mdina Road Zebbug log on the Toyota Malta Facebook page or call on 2269 4000 Toyota Malta For more information contact: Michael Debono Limited 0GLQD5RDGĽHEEXã 7HO VDOHV#WR\RWDFRPPW ZZZWR\RWDFRPPW Toyota Gozo Showroom 0ãDUU5RDG ;HZNLMD;:.*R]R 7HO JJV#WR\RWDFRPPW 5 year WARRANTY DEBONO F I N A N C E ONLY 5.5% VARIABLE RATE OVER 6 YEARS Toyota's focus on hydrogen and hybrid technologies draws a clear battle line against other car manufacturers which staked much of their own green car strategy on clean diesels