Toyota Motor Corp's top scientist recently said battery electric vehicles (BEVs) alone cannot be the answer to climate change until there are more resources and infrastructure to support such a change, Reuters reports.
While certain investors and environmental groups have pushed Toyota to pursue more EV production, the company has stated that hybrid vehicles are more practical and that the sole focus on BEVs will cause people to hold onto vehicles that will release pollution.
Toyota Research Institute’s Chief Executive, Gill Pratt, said that while a complete switch to BEVs could be a net positive in a country such as Norway, which has renewable infrastructure, the same cannot be done in other parts of the world that are still reliant on coal. In these environments, he argued, hybrid vehicles are more helpful in lowering CO2 emissions.
“Battery materials and renewable charging infrastructure will eventually be plentiful. But it's going to take decades for battery material mines, renewable power generation, transmission lines and seasonal energy-storage facilities to scale up,” stated Pratt.
