Akio Toyoda still against electric cars: “like autonomous driving, mass adoption will take decades”

Akio Toyoda continues to live up to his calling as Cassandra of the electric revolution. If all manufacturers look forward to the transition with enthusiasm, Toyota’s No. 1 invites public opinion and politics to a more pragmatic and realistic approach. «Far from 2035», insists the Japanese tycoon, «the mass adoption of electric cars will take many decades».

As we saw just a few weeks ago, in reality, Toyoda’s voice is less and less isolated and finds strong support also in Europe and above all in our country. More and more people have decided to break the silence and warn the public against the risks of a hasty electrical transition decided by decree law. 

But back to Toyoda. On the occasion of a panel held at CES 2023 in Las Vegas, the Toyota owner returned to the attack, proposing a parallel that he had already stated in the past. Mass electric cars? Like autonomous driving.

“We were promised that by 2022 we would all be in fully self-driving vehicles, but things have gone very differently,” he said, adding that things will go the same way for electric cars . They will continue to be an exclusive toy for a few wealthy consumers.

Akio Toyoda reiterated that he is a supporter of a technologically neutral approach : the challenges of sustainable mobility, in other words, cannot be won with electric cars alone. We also need new generation hybrids, synthetic fuels, hydrogen and diesel.

Perhaps more than all other manufacturers, Toyoda has invested heavily in fuel cell technology and is considered the most important pioneer in the hybrid car sector. «There are many different options that we can offer to customers, electric is not the only way».