(NewsSpace.com) – Over the past few years, electric vehicles (EVs) have become increasingly popular. Many people like that they can charge them for pennies on the dollar and avoid paying hefty prices at the pump. Even President Joe Biden’s administration is pushing for an expansion of the market. However, one popular manufacturer’s chairman says that they are not likely to ever rule the market.
Akio Toyoda, the grandson of Toyota’s founder, released a statement on the company’s website where he discussed electric vehicles. He said despite “how much progress [EVs] make,” he thinks they “will still only have a 30% market share.” The remainder will be a mix of hybrids and hydrogen engines, and of course, gasoline-powered vehicles. Toyoda wasn’t condescending in his assertion; he simply pointed out that there are many people around the world who drive but don’t have access to electricity, so electric vehicles are of no use to them. Toyota still caters to that market, so going full EV would be detrimental to the company.
Toyoda also made it clear that politics and “political power” will have no bearing on the market for electric vehicles, but rather that it will be driven by “customers and the market.”
The market, at least for now, is making it clear that they do appreciate having electric or hybrid vehicles as an option. In fact, Kelly Blue Book reported that in 2023, sales for EVs in the United States broke 1 million for the first time ever, with 1,189,051 purchased. So, according to Toyoda, there is a market for it; it’s just not logical to think that they will one day power the world.
His company is still doing its best to promote a varied lineup of vehicles. It was the first company to release a gas-electric hybrid vehicle that’s mass-produced. The actual first hybrid vehicle came out in 1900. It was designed by Ferdinand Porsche.
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