{"id":6738,"date":"2024-03-22T15:17:53","date_gmt":"2024-03-22T15:17:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/22\/how-toyota-a-laggard-on-electric-cars-got-its-fight-back\/"},"modified":"2024-03-22T15:17:53","modified_gmt":"2024-03-22T15:17:53","slug":"how-toyota-a-laggard-on-electric-cars-got-its-fight-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/22\/how-toyota-a-laggard-on-electric-cars-got-its-fight-back\/","title":{"rendered":"How Toyota, a Laggard on Electric Cars, Got Its Fight Back"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/03\/21\/multimedia\/00CLI-TOYOTA-01-wtlm\/00CLI-TOYOTA-01-wtlm-facebookJumbo.jpg?resize=1050,550&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"How Toyota, a Laggard on Electric Cars, Got Its Fight Back\" title=\"How Toyota, a Laggard on Electric Cars, Got Its Fight Back\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The breakfast at Toyota\u2019s annual dealership gathering in Las Vegas last fall was an exclusive, invite-only affair, where attendees were told to cover their cellphone cameras with red stickers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Speaking was Stephen Ciccone, Toyota\u2019s top lobbyist. He said the industry was facing an existential crisis \u2014 not because of the economy or fuel prices, but because of stronger tailpipe pollution limits being proposed in the United States. The rules were \u201cbad for the country, bad for the consumer, and bad for the auto industry,\u201d he said, according to a memo he later circulated among Toyota dealerships that was reviewed by The New York Times.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cFor more than two years, Toyota and our dealer partners have stood alone in the fight against unrealistic BEV mandates,\u201d he wrote, using the acronym for battery-electric vehicles. \u201cWe have taken a lot of hits from environmental activists, the media, and some politicians. But we have not \u2014 and we will not \u2014 back down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On Wednesday, the Environmental Protection Agency <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/03\/20\/climate\/biden-phase-out-gas-cars.html\" title=\"\">finalized tailpipe emissions rules<\/a> that require car makers to meet tough new average emissions limits. The rules are some of the most significant aimed at fighting climate change in United States history.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But the rules relaxed major elements of an earlier, more stringent proposal. In particular, the final regulations were favorable to hybrid cars, those that run both on gasoline and electricity \u2014 giving a bigger role to a market that Toyota dominates.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Toyota, it appeared, had come out on top.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Once a leader in clean cars, Toyota has cemented its role as the voice of caution against electrifying the auto industry too quickly, using its lobbying and public relations muscle to oppose a rapid shift that experts say <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/05\/18\/climate\/climate-change-emissions-IEA.html\" title=\"\">is critical to fighting climate change<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">That\u2019s a significant change for an auto maker that pioneered hybrid technology in the late 1990s, giving the world the Prius, a high-mileage vehicle embraced by early adopters of cleaner cars.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But in more recent years, Toyota has bet on a continued role for hybrids and gasoline cars, as well as vehicles powered by hydrogen, not batteries, seemingly leaving Toyota in a bind as sales of electric cars began rising quickly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In a statement on Friday, Toyota said it has long maintained that \u201cthe best way to reduce carbon emissions as much as possible, as soon as possible, is to give consumers a variety of choices to meet their needs.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Toyota <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/10\/29\/business\/toyota-california-emissions-honda-gm-chrysler.html\" title=\"\">sided with<\/a> President Donald J. Trump in 2019 against an effort by California to impose stricter car emissions rules. And it has <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/07\/25\/climate\/toyota-electric-hydrogen.html\" title=\"\">opposed policies<\/a> around the world to compel automakers to switch to selling electric vehicles.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Toyota also stood out among its automaker peers in strongly opposing tailpipe rules proposed by the Biden administration last year, which require carmakers to meet tough new average emissions limits across their product lines. Ford, for example, sought to push back some of the compliance dates, even as it largely agreed to the overall numbers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Toyota objected altogether. The rules were \u201carbitrary and capricious,\u201d based on \u201cerror-filled data sets,&#8221; and would impose \u201csignificant costs\u201d on gasoline vehicles, the automaker said in <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.regulations.gov\/comment\/EPA-HQ-OAR-2022-0829-0785\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">comments on the proposed rules<\/a>. Battery supply chains, vehicle charging infrastructure, and car buyers weren\u2019t ready for electric vehicles, the company said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In January, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2024-01-23\/toyota-chairman-predicts-battery-electric-cars-will-only-reach-30-share\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda said<\/a> he believed electric vehicles would reach a 30 percent market share at best, with the rest of the market taken up by hybrids, hydrogen fuel-cell cars and gasoline-burning vehicles.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWhen we think about Toyota, people think it\u2019s technologically great, and green \u2014 and they deserved that,\u201d said Margo T. Oge, former director of the E.P.A.\u2019s Office of Transportation Air Quality who has advised both automakers and environmental groups on clean-car policy. But more recently, she said, Toyota \u201chas been using all kinds of strategies to delay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Toyota said that it had steadily called on the E.P.A. to provide greater flexibility to meet the regulations. And it said its argument had prevailed, noting that several companies have recently announced plans to offer more hybrids rather than electric cars. \u201cIt appears that the industry has moved toward the position Toyota has consistently held,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It also called the E.P.A.\u2019s final rules \u201caggressive\u201d and said big challenges remain in meeting them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In spreading its message, Toyota harnessed the power of dealerships both through Mr. Ciccone\u2019s outreach to Toyota dealers, and by other means. The company\u2019s dealerships played a role, for example, in garnering support for a separate letter-writing campaign aimed at urging the Biden administration to exercise caution on electric vehicles, according to two people with knowledge of that effort. Toyota dealers in at least two states circulated the letter at dealership meetings, they said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">That effort culminated in a letter to President Biden, in January, from nearly 4,000 car dealerships in 50 states, complaining of poor sales of electric cars and urging the administration to \u201ctap the brakes\u201d on its push for more battery-powered vehicles.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The letter came in for scrutiny, however, after some dealers who appeared in it claimed that they never signed on. Among them was Duncan Roberts, majority owner of Swedish automaker Polestar\u2019s Portland dealership \u201cIt\u2019s embarrassing. I didn\u2019t approve it,\u201d he said in an interview.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Toyota said the list had been \u201cgenerated by dealer-to-dealer contact,\u201d and that it didn\u2019t believe Toyota dealerships played any outsized role. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Electric-vehicle sales have slowed in recent months, but are still <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/03\/20\/business\/new-rules-will-still-push-carmakers-to-sell-more-electric-cars.html)\" title=\"\">growing much faster<\/a> than sales of vehicles that burn fossil fuels. Nonetheless, the dealers\u2019 letter provided ammunition to other foes of stricter pollution standards.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.afpm.org\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">American Fuel Petrochemical Manufacturers<\/a>, which represents the nation\u2019s biggest gasoline producers, has urged congress to support <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/118th-congress\/house-bill\/4468\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">a Republican-sponsored bill<\/a> that would restrict the E.P.A.\u2019s ability to regulate car emissions, citing the letter. During the Trump administration, the group also <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/12\/13\/climate\/cafe-emissions-rollback-oil-industry.html\" title=\"\">ran a covert campaign<\/a> to rewrite clean-car rules.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Toyota has said it is investing more than $17 billion in electrifying its fleet, a figure that includes investments in both hybrids and electric vehicles, and has released one electric car model in the United States. But Toyota dominates in hybrids, with a roughly 40 percent share of the market in the United States, giving it an incentive to keep hybrids mainstream, analysts say. It invested heavily in the technology; early on Toyota lost money on its Priuses for a decade, before starting to <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/archives\/la-xpm-2001-dec-19-hy-prius19-story.html#:~:text=Toyota%20has%20sold%20about%2075%2C000,harder%20to%20increase%20our%20profitability.%E2%80%9D\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">turn a profit on hybrids in 2001<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">And hybrids are now selling well, as some buyers shy away from buying fully battery-powered cars out of concerns about \u201c<a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/10\/19\/climate\/ev-range-anxiety-a-case-study.html\" title=\"\">range anxiety<\/a>\u201d \u2014 that they\u2019ll run out of power or not be able to find convenient places to charge up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The revised E.P.A. rules announced earlier this week \u201cwork for automakers who invest heavily in hybrids,\u201d said Mark Schirmer, director of industry insights at Cox Automotive, a research firm. \u201cAnd certainly Toyota is leading the way there.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Toyota has also sought to make a business of <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/idUSKCN1RO0ZM\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">supplying other automakers with its hybrid technology<\/a>, offering some of its patents at no charge, with the hope that rivals turn to Toyota for its expertise and to source parts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Toyota\u2019s focus on producing hybrids, rather than fully battery-powered cars, is also better for the environment, the company has argued.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Ciccone, the Toyota lobbyist, laid out that reasoning in his memo to dealers: The amount of rare minerals needed to make one electric vehicle takes only one gasoline vehicle off the road. But that same amount could supply six plug-in hybrids that require an outlet, or 90 hybrid cars that don\u2019t need to be plugged in, he said. And, he said, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2023\/05\/16\/business\/china-ev-battery.html\" title=\"\">China\u2019s dominance<\/a> of the battery supply chain was a major concern.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt\u2019s a no brainer\u201d to prioritize hybrids over electric vehicles, Mr. Ciccone said in the letter.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Some experts dispute the numbers. Rachel Muncrief, acting executive director of the International Council on Clean Transportation, a research organization, said Toyota assumed a mineral-supply crunch that <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/theicct.org\/pr-us-lithium-supply-may-far-exceed-demand-from-us-light-duty-bevs-through-2032-feb24\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">hasn\u2019t materialized<\/a> because of <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/12\/26\/climate\/cp2-natural-gas-export-louisiana.html\" title=\"\">improved battery technology<\/a> and other changes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Electric vehicles <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/theicct.org\/publication\/a-global-comparison-of-the-life-cycle-greenhouse-gas-emissions-of-combustion-engine-and-electric-passenger-cars\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">emit far fewer greenhouse gas emissions<\/a> and other pollutants, studies have shown, when taking into account manufacturing and their lifetime use. \u201cThere\u2019s no competition,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Gil Tal, director of the Electric Vehicle Research Center at the University of California, Davis\u2019s Institute of Transportation Studies, said that while hybrids were \u201cvery efficient on lowering emissions a little bit, they\u2019re not very effective in bringing us to zero emissions in the long run.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Toyota\u2019s math has won supporters. GreenerCars, which recently assessed the emissions from 1,200 cars available for purchase this year, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/greenercars.org\/greenercars-ratings\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">gave its highest rating<\/a> to Toyota\u2019s Prius \u201cplug-in\u201d hybrid, which means it can be charged up from a power outlet but can also run on its gasoline engine. Experts point out, however, that how clean a plug-in hybrid is can vary widely depending on how often it\u2019s driven as a gasoline car, versus powered by electricity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Some of the changes to the E.P.A.\u2019s car-pollution rule appeared to be based on new data suggesting that plug-in hybrids are driven more on battery power today than in the past, which would make them cleaner.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Toyota had said it planned to share such data with the administration. The E.P.A. didn\u2019t immediately comment on whether Toyota data had affected the final rules.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Dr. Tal of U.C. Davis, said it was clear the car companies were in a tough place. \u201cThey\u2019re taking on the highest risk with this transition to electric vehicles,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I understand their pushback, I understand why they\u2019re nervous about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Coral Davenport contributed reporting from Washington.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The breakfast at Toyota\u2019s annual dealership gathering in Las Vegas last fall was an exclusive, invite-only affair, where attendees were told to cover their cellphone cameras with red stickers. Speaking was Stephen Ciccone, Toyota\u2019s top lobbyist. He said the industry was facing an existential crisis \u2014 not because of the economy or fuel prices, but [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6739,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/03\/21\/multimedia\/00CLI-TOYOTA-01-wtlm\/00CLI-TOYOTA-01-wtlm-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[5529,4178,4822,10595,10594],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6738"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6738"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6740,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6738\/revisions\/6740"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}