2023 Prius Prime Exposed, April 6, 2023.
Scott Mlyn | CNBC
Plano, Texas – Twenty -five years after presenting many Americans to hybrid vehicles with the Prius, Toyota Motor Significant growth in rechargeable hybrid vehicles or PHEVs are targeting significant growth.
These cars can operate as an electric vehicle on a number of miles before needing a traditional gas engine. Unlike traditional hybrids like the Prius which use a small amount of battery technologies, PHEVs must also be loaded with a plug, such as an EV, to use the electric range.
The PHEVs are not new. Toyota presented the PRIUS for the first time as PHEV in the United States in 2016, but these plug-ins experience rebirth while car manufacturers are trying to comply with federal fuel economy and regulations on emissions. They also acted as potential waterproof to all electric vehicles for consumers who could hesitate to become entirely electric.
“We are going to develop our PHEV volume through the range in the coming years,” said David Christ, head of the Toyota brand in North America, in CNBC during a visit to the headquarters of the company in North America. “We love the PHEV motorcycle group. We work to increase, perpetually increase, the amount of miles that you can travel on the EV beach only.”
Company sources have said Toyota planned to increase PHEV by 2.4% of its American sales volume last year to around 20% by 2030. However, they said that this could change according to regulations, acceptance of electrified technologies and affordability, among other factors.
This percentage of sales would correspond to the amount of the PHEV mixture authorized by the Clean Cars II advanced rule of California Air Resources Board, which obliges car manufacturers to sell exclusively zero emission vehicles in the state by 2035. President Donald Trump should eliminate this rule.
The expected expansion of the Toyota PHEV intervenes in the middle of regulatory uncertainty and slower than expected adoption of all electric vehicles, which the company also continues to invest billions of dollars each year. Phevs' performance also continues to improve.
“We look at plug-ins in the range, and it is more depending on where we can build them, and what is the strength of the product in relation to competition,” said Christ.
The EV range only PHEVS has gone from a few tens of miles in ideal conditions at 50 miles for vehicles such as the RAV4 redrawn from the automaker which was introduced last week.
Estimates and sales forecasts for PHEVs vary, because their sales are limited and not all companies withdraw these models when declaring the results. Several automotive and forecasting data companies expect modest PHEV growth, between 4% and 5% of industry sales by 2030.
“Growth is probably limited due to the costly cost structure of the expensive motorcycle group. For those already invested, it may be wise to continue on the way,” said Chris Hopson, main analyst at S&P Global Mobility. “However, for those who have not already made significant investments, it is a significant progressive cost which must be balanced.”
S&P has PHEV sales in the United States from around 2% last year to 5% by the end of the decade. Autopacific expects Phevs to reach approximately 4.2% by 2030, while Autoforecast solutions expect these sales to be relatively stable around 3.3% in the coming years.
Phev sales for Toyota, including its Luxury Lexus brand, increased by around 39% last year, according to business data. This included an increase of 30% for the PRIUS and RAV4 PHEV of the Toyota brand, as well as a leap of 88.6% for the three PHEVs from Lexus, including a new “TX” model.
This is compared to the more than 20 hybrid models of the automaker which experienced a combined increase in sales of 53% last year, including a 56% leap for the Toyota brand in the middle of several new introductions.
“We look at the other side of the range and say:” How many electric trains can we offer on which products? “” Said Christ. “We are going to increase the percentage of hybrids and phev.”
Christ said that the Toyota brand expects hybrids, including PHEVs, represent more than 50% of American sales this year, from around 46% in 2024 and almost 30% in 2023.
Cooper Ericksen, senior vice-president of Toyota in North America electric vehicles of products and batteries, or Bevs, compared the “electrified” vehicle of the automaker of the car manufacturer so that the bases are loaded in a baseball game with different players.
“We have ice. We have a hybrid. We have a plug-in hybrid. We had EV,” he said. “So our chances of successfully scoring races are much better than if you are really too involved in one of these motorcycle groups.”
Ericksen, citing Toyota Research and Studies, said that people understand the functioning of PHEVs and their advantages, there is a massive swing in the interest of traditional vehicles, hybrids and even electric vehicles.
“Once we have educated people, the largest swing of all the powertrain is by far in the exponential phase,” he told CNBC during a separate interview. “Phev is really important for us. There are people who will consider a PHEV who will not consider a BEV.”
Understanding PHEVS consumers has been a challenge in the past. It was partly to blame for the slow sales and the stop of General Motors“Chevrolet Volt, which the automaker produced from 2010 to early 2019.
Many consumers have also expressed their concern about having to connect the vehicle. (But vehicles can always work as a traditional gas vehicle without ever being connected, which has aroused criticism from certain supporters of the DV.)
PHEVs are also expensive due to the need for EV technologies and an engine. Toyota PHEVs currently cost thousands of dollars more than traditional or hybrid vehicles.
“There are a lot of negatives in the side of production, and buyers, unless they are forced to do so, do not really opt for PHEV models,” said Sam Fiorani, vice-president of the world forecast of world vehicles.
Toyota's RAV4 PHEV 2025 contains a price premium of around $ 15,000 compared to the basic model and $ 12,000 compared to the hybrid version.
“It's a bit like getting two cars in one,” said Ericksen. “And if it serves an advantage of conformity, we may have softened the pot on the price a little so that more people consider it.”
