Toyota’s campaign to show customers, suppliers and investors that it’s serious about electrification was on display again this month, with another round of demonstrations following a similar effort back in June.
The world’s largest carmaker invited a clutch of journalists on a tour of three factories in Aichi Prefecture, near its headquarters in the city of Toyota, last week for another peek at the technology it’s developing to expand production of battery-based electric vehicles, as well as a crash course on its famed production system.
The previous workshop came at a critical time for Toyota, just ahead of a shareholders meeting, and succeeded in convincing investors the company wasn’t about to sit idle as the global auto industry shifts toward electrification and automation. Toyota detailed plans to commercialize solid-state batteries, roll out 10 new electric models and sell 1.5 million battery electric vehicles annually by 2026.