It is about Carbon Emissions Reduction! Wayne Gerdes – CleanMPG – Nov. 9, 2023 Toyota’s “Beyond Zero” campaign has had little impact up to this point, but Toyota is once again making the message clear. Toyota once again wants its “Beyond Zero” moniker to move beyond the automotive industry’s focus on BEVs to a much broader perspective that encompasses Toyota’s more realistic – read more affordable and CO2 reducing portfolio of automobiles, while transitioning away from pure internal combustion engine transportation. That includes the company’s broad array of HEVs, a few PHEVs, single FCEV, and its two BEVs. The Toyota and Lexus lineup can still meet many of its consumer wants with the limited battery resources available to it. Toyota stated it can reduce carbon emissions faster than BEVs alone while giving customers more choice. The all-EV automaker Tesla being the elephant in the room of course. The point of “Beyond Zero” is about simplifying the message and promoting it with people who don’t think an electrified vehicle will work with their lifestyle. Yours truly included. Toyota will continue with a multi-path approach to offer customers a variety of electrified vehicles to suit their individual wants. In a more direct phrasing, consider that the same number of precious metals required to make a battery big enough – 246 KWh to be exact, to power a vehicle the size of a Hummer EV could instead be used to make the batteries for almost 14 RAV4 Prime’s, 18 Prius Prime PHEVs, or more than 273 5th gen Prius HEVs which can provide almost two orders of magnitude more carbon reduction over their lifetime than the one ungainly BEV. Which options is more likely to reduce as much carbon as fast? The larger question being, where do you start your own carbon emission reduction campaign? 2023 Toyota Prius I would say this is a pretty god start.
