With an aim of contributing to global environmental sustainability, Toyota has developed an ambitious set of goals to be achieved over the next 35 years.
14 Oct 2015 | 2482 Views | By Autocar Professional Bureau
With an aim of contributing to global environmental sustainability, Toyota has developed an ambitious set of goals to be achieved over the next 35 years.
Addressing key global environmental issues such as climate change, water shortage, resource depletion, and degradation of biodiversity, the Toyota Environmental Challenge 2050 aims to ...
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With an aim of contributing to global environmental sustainability, Toyota has developed an ambitious set of goals to be achieved over the next 35 years.
Addressing key global environmental issues such as climate change, water shortage, resource depletion, and degradation of biodiversity, the Toyota Environmental Challenge 2050 aims to reduce the negative impact of manufacturing and driving vehicles as much as possible. The challenge is composed of six individual challenges across three areas: Ever-better cars, ever-better manufacturing, and enriching lives of communities.
In addition, as a key step toward achieving these long-term targets, Toyota is announcing its Sixth Toyota Environmental Action Plan, which will be enacted between April 2016 and the end of March 2021.
Ever-better cars
New Vehicles Zero CO2 Challenge: This is aimed at reducing global average new-vehicle CO2 emissions by 90 percent by 2050 (compared to Toyota's 2010 global average).
- Developing next-generation automotive technologies and encouraging their widespread use from the standpoint of energy conservation and diversification of fuel sources.
- Reducing global average new-vehicle CO2 emissions by more than 22 percent by 2020 (compared to Toyota's 2010 global average).
- Launching (worldwide, in 2014 and 2015) a new series of 14 engines that achieve top-level thermal efficiency and fuel efficiency improvement of more than 10 percent (JC08 cycle) over current models.
- Developing and launching high-performance powertrains based on the Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA), an innovative, integrated, development program for powertrain components and vehicle platforms.
- Launching hybrid models in all categories on a global basis; exceeding cumulative sales of 8 million hybrids in July 2015.
- Broadening the appeal of hybrids through improved performance and a broad product lineup; achieving sales of 1.5 million hybrids annually and 15 million hybrids cumulatively by 2020.
- Achieving fuel efficiency of more than 40 km/L (selected grades) with the new Prius, thanks to a more sophisticated hybrid powertrain and improvements stemming from TNGA.
Diversification of fuel sources: This will involve improving electrified powertrains and developing next-generation models based on hybrid technologies. Pushing for further advances related to electrified powertrains in order to develop next-generation models; promoting development of next-generation batteries, such as solid-state batteries that have higher energy density, easier increase in voltage and excellent high-temperature durability, in order to improve the range of EVs and the electric range of PHVs. Toyota will also promote downsizing and improvement of power control units in hybrids and PHVs.
The carmaker will also foster a hydrogen-based society. It has launched the hydrogen-powered Mirai in Japan, followed by Europe and the U.S and promoted widespread use of fuel cell vehicles, including making 5,680 fuel cell patents freely available and collaborating with other automakers to support the development of hydrogen infrastructure.
It will also foster a hydrogen-based society by putting fuel cell vehicles on the road, aiming to achieve annual global sales of over 30,000 fuel cell vehicles―a ten-fold increase from 2017 production volume ― around or after 2020; boosting production and improving production technology to meet this dramatic sales increase, and offering a broader lineup.
Eliminating all C02 emissions
Toyota plans to completely eliminate all CO2 emissions, including materials, parts and manufacturing, from the vehicle lifecycle and has targeted zero CO2 emissions at all plants by 2050.
This will involve reducing CO2 emissions through day-to-day continuous improvements and introduction of low-CO2 production methods; cutting CO2 emissions per car from new plants and new production lines to roughly half of 2001 levels by 2020, and roughly a third by 2030; using renewable energy and hydrogen-based power generation to completely eliminate CO2 emissions from our plants by 2050.
The company will also enact effective wastewater management and minimize water consumption, taking into account the conditions in each country and region.
Other areas include promoting global rollout of end-of-life vehicle treatment and recycling technologies developed in Japan by establishing two recycling projects in 2016. It involves using resources more efficiently by using eco-materials, using parts for longer, improving recycling technologies, and building cars from end-of-life vehicles.