Kenshiki means insight in Japanese and this year’s edition to an audience of over 300 media, focused on the battery electric and hydrogen powered vehicles which will play a significant role in the company’s multi pathway strategy in the years ahead.

Mobility for All

Toyota’s principle of ‘Mobility for All’ and its commitment to achieving full carbon neutrality in Europe by 2040 and globally by 2050 guides the company’s approach to new product development.

Speaking at Kenshiki, Simon Humphries, Chief Branding Officer, Head of Design, Toyota Motor Corporation provided further insight into the company’s mindset: “for us, what mobility really comes down to, is freedom. With freedom comes opportunity, and at Toyota, we believe that everyone should have access to the opportunity that mobility provides, wherever in the world they live, whatever the situation and leaving no one behind.”

Toyota’s ‘multi pathway’ strategy confirms this thinking, where low and zero emission mobility solutions are designed to meet specific regional needs; products which satisfy customer demand or are relevant to their local infrastructure whilst remaining accessible so that no one is left behind on the journey to carbon neutrality.

Mr Humphries presented several concept models which will spearhead Lexus and Toyota’s next generation battery electric vehicles; he explained that the new modular design architecture combining gigacast chassis, components minimisation and the new Arene operating system, enables design freedom to elevate the entire user experience.

The exciting line-up of future Toyota and Lexus battery electric vehicles presented at Kenshiki are intended to appear on European roads in the coming years - including the Lexus LF-ZC, Toyota FT-Se Toyota FT-3e, Toyota Sport Crossover concept and the Toyota Urban SUV concept.

The Path Towards Carbon Neutrality

TME announced last year, its goal of achieving full carbon neutrality in Europe by 2040.

SBTi Scope 1 & 2 carbon neutrality will be achieved in its European operations and manufacturing facilities by 2030.

For Scope 3, Toyota will achieve 100% CO₂ reduction in new vehicles sales in 2035 and, by 2040, full carbon neutrality in value chain and logistics - where TME is already making progress by starting to use hydrogen fuel cell electric trucks on its four key logistics routes from Belgium to Germany, France and Netherlands.

Battery Electric Vehicle Expansion

Yoshihiro Nakata, President & CEO, Toyota Motor Europe commenting on TME’s mid-term product launch plan stated that “whilst we will continue to offer multiple carbon reduction technologies, we will also steadily increase the number of zero-emissions vehicles we offer to customers”.

In Europe, Toyota’s electrified mix is already at 71% and is expected to grow to 75% in 2024, and this will further expand with new battery electric vehicles playing an increasingly significant role in its sales volumes.

By 2026, TME will offer around 15 different zero emission vehicles under the Toyota brand from passenger cars to light commercial vehicles, when Toyota’s European BEV mix is expected to be over 20% and more than 250,000 vehicles per annum.

Turning to hydrogen, Mr Nakata, explained that Toyota retains a confident outlook on its unique role in contributing to the decarbonisation of Europe’s mobility with the momentum of growing infrastructure and availability of green hydrogen.

Toyota’s hydrogen strategy reaches across several mobility sectors; in the passenger car segment, it offers the Mirai and newly launched Crown. In the commercial sector, TME’s Hydrogen Factory Europe, is integrating its current fuel cell technology into trucks, buses, coaches, boats – and pick up trucks as seen in the hydrogen fuel cell Hilux prototype presented at Kenshiki.

Hydrogen technology will be further advanced when Toyota launches its third generation fuel cell systems in 2026.

Addition of Proace Max Completes Toyota Professional Line-up

The Toyota Professional light commercial vehicle line-up is completed by the addition of the new Proace Max, a large van available in three lengths and heights providing customers the versatility the demand.

Like its siblings, the new Proace Max is available with a battery electric powertrain, giving a range of 420km (WLTP) and access to zero-emission zones.

Proace Max joins the newly-updated Proace and Proace City models to offer customers the choice between large, medium and small commercial vehicles – all with the option of a battery-electric powertrain.

Hilux is also a key part of the Toyota Professional fleet, a mainstay of TME’s commercial fleet for customers who value quality, durability and reliability. It will receive another boost next year when a version with a hybrid 48 volt system is introduced, providing more power and torque while improving fuel efficiency by 10%.

Toyota Professional has strong momentum and sales are expected grow in 2023 to over 140,000 vehicles, an increase of more than +20% compared to 2022.  A strong product offering is just one part of the equation, with a key differentiator being the recognised customer-service excellence of the retail network.  

Toyota’s Paris 2024 Legacy

Further to the earlier hydrogen thread, Matt Harrison, COO, Toyota Motor Europe highlighted that up to ten hydrogen applications will be in operation at Paris 2024. Toyota, as the worldwide mobility partner of the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee will provide a passenger vehicle fleet of more than 2650 electrified vehicles and 700 electric last-mile mobility solutions.

Mr Harrison explained that among these solutions are 250 Accessible People Movers (APMs), redesigned for Paris 2024, and built in Europe, to better meet local requirements for Paris: “The vehicle is designed to offer last-mile service and and transport people with accessibility needs.

Kenshiki Deep Dives 

A series of Kenshiki product and technology deep dives followed the main meeting:

• Toyota previews expanded dedicated BEV line-up and advanced battery technologies
• World Premiere: Urban SUV Concept
• European Premiere: Sport Crossover Concept
• European Premiere: Toyota FT-3e
• European Premiere: Toyota FT-Se concept
• Land Cruiser: start of online reservation
• Toyota Professional Pushes Forward with Increased Product Power and Leading Customer Service
• All-new PROACE MAX Delivers Strength, Capacity and Efficiency
• New Hilux Hybrid 48V Enhances an Invincible Icon
• Lexus embraces innovation and advanced technologies to become an all-electric luxury brand
• Toyota Hydrogen Factory scaling up its European activities
• Toyota to deliver inclusive electric mobility solutions for all at Paris 2024

Click here to read the full article in Toyota Motor Corporation newsroom 

Toyota plans to offer advanced specification BEVs that are loved as driving machines.

Not only will they be designed and built differently, they will also be powered by a range of new advanced batteries developed specifically to exceed Toyota customers’ diverse needs and expectations.

During a recent technical workshop under the theme of “Let’s Change the Future of Cars”, Toyota communicated a first insight into its next-generation BEV breakthrough technologies, including a preview of its advanced battery technology rollout plan.

Takero Kato, president of Toyota’s BEV Factory, indicated that the next-generation BEVs will first hit the market in 2026 and that 1.7m of the 3.5m BEVs Toyota expects to sell by 2030 will be these next-generation models. He also highlighted that a range of battery technologies will be key to appealing BEVs to a wider range of customers and their needs.

Toyota has unveiled four next generation batteries including state-of-the-art advances with both liquid and solid electrolytes, and gave a preview of two further steps with solid electrolyte battery technology.

Improved performance from liquid electrolyte batteries

Batteries with liquid electrolytes, which are currently the mainstream technology for BEVs, are being further developed by Toyota to deliver improved energy density, cost competitiveness and charging speeds.

There are three main technologies under development for liquid electrolyte batteries – ‘Performance’, ‘Popularised’ and ‘High Performance’

1.    Performance [Lithium-Ion]

Intended to be introduced with the next-generation BEVs to be introduced in 2026, the Performance Li-Ion battery will increase the cruising range of BEVs to over 800km when combined with improved aerodynamics and reduced vehicle weight.

• 20% reduction in cost (compared to current bZ4X BEV)
• Rapid recharging time of 20 minutes or less (SOC*¹ = 10-80%)
• Timing: expected 2026

*¹ SOC – State of Charge

2.   Popularisation [Lithium Iron Phosphate]

Toyota is developing high-quality, lower-cost batteries to support the wider appeal of BEVs by providing customers with a variety of battery options – similar to the choice they have today with different powertrains.

The Popularisation battery is constructed using the bipolar technology that Toyota pioneered and confirmed with its NiMh hybrid electric vehicle batteries, combined with inexpensive lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO) as the core material.

The Popularisation battery is expected to offer:

• 20% increase in cruising range (compared to current bZ4X)
• 40% reduction in cost (compared to current bZ4X)
• Fast recharging time of 30 minutes or less (SOC*¹= 10-80%)
• Timing: expected 2026-27

Figure: Monopolar vs. Bipolar structure

3.    High-Performance [Lithium-Ion]

Toyota is also developing a High-Performance battery that combines the bipolar structure with Li-Ion chemistry and a high nickel cathode to achieve further advances and further increase cruising range capability to over 1000km when combined with improved aerodynamics and reduced vehicle weight.

The High-Performance battery is also expected to offer:

• Further 10% reduction in cost compared to the Performance battery
• Rapid charging time of 20 minutes or less (SOC*¹ = 10-80%)
• Timing: expected 2027-28

Breakthrough with Solid-State Batteries [Lithium-Ion]

Long seen as a potential game-changer for BEVs, Toyota has made a technological breakthrough in its quest to improve the durability of Li-Ion solid-state batteries.

Toyota solid-state batteries have a solid electrolyte, allowing for faster movement of ions and a greater tolerance of high voltages and temperatures.

These qualities make solid-state batteries suitable for rapid charging & discharging and delivering more power in a smaller form.

The trade-off, until now, has been an expected shorter battery life. However, recent technological advancements by Toyota have overcome this challenge and the company has switched its focus to putting solid-state batteries into mass production.

The aim is to be ready for commercial use by 2027-28.

And, while solid-state was initially slated for introduction on HEVs, Toyota’s focus is now primarily on next-generation BEVs. 

Toyota’s first solid-state battery is expected to offer:

•  20% increase in cruising range vs. the Performance battery (approx. 1000 km)
•  Fast charge time of 10 minutes or less (SOC*¹ = 10-80%)

Further Solid-State Development Activity

Toyota already has a higher specification Li-Ion solid-state battery under development which is targeting a 50% improvement in cruising range compared to the Performance battery.

Optimising Battery Height to Improve Range

Aerodynamics play a key role in determining the range of all vehicles.

Naturally, in the quest to maximise the range of BEVs there is an increasing focus on reducing or optimising Cd (drag coefficient) ratings.

Toyota’s consideration goes one step beyond by focusing on CdA (Cd multiplied by A, frontal area) which, because of the multiplication effect of frontal area, has a much bigger bearing on a vehicle’s range capability.

Central to Toyota’s thinking is the height of the battery, which is typically packaged under the vehicle’s floor. This can lead to an overall increase in vehicle height, which then has a disproportionate multiplied effect on CdA and consequently on vehicle range performance.

If the height of the battery can be reduced then it follows that the overall height of the vehicle can be reduced, CdA can be improved and overall range can be increased.

Therefore, Toyota is also developing ever-flatter battery technology.

Today the battery pack of the bZ4X, including casing, is around 150mm high. Tomorrow, Toyota plans to reduce the battery height to 120mm, and even 100mm in the case of high-performance sports vehicles where a low hip-position is also desirable.

These battery height advancements can have positive impacts on range, driving engagement and packaging depending on how they are deployed in the vehicle.