TOKYO – Japan said it planned to stop sales of new gasoline cars by the mid-2030s, despite criticism from Toyota Motor Corps
chief that a rapid shift to electric vehicles could paralyze the auto industry.
The plan released Friday followed similar moves by the state of California and major European countries, but faced backlash from auto executives in a country that still makes millions of cars every year that run exclusively on gasoline engines.
According to the plan, Japan would still allow the sale of gas-electric hybrid cars after 2035. Many models from the best car manufacturers in Japan: Toyota, Honda Motor Co.
and Nissan Motor Co.
– Come in both traditional and hybrid versions.
Earlier this month, Toyota President Akio Toyoda said that if Japan banned gasoline cars and moved too quickly to electric vehicles, “the current business model of the auto industry will collapse.” He spoke on behalf of Japanese automakers in his role as the head of a local industry association.
Mr. Toyoda said the electricity grid cannot handle the extra summer demand and noted that most of the electricity in Japan is generated by burning fossil fuels.
Government officials said automakers needed to review their business models. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga pointed to another part of Mr Toyoda’s comments, in which the Toyota chief said he supports the government’s goal of making Japan carbon neutral by 2050. limiting growth, ”said Mr Suga.
Japan’s Christmas Day release, which also included a plan to introduce a whopping 45 gigawatts of offshore wind power capacity by 2040, ended a year when major economies around the world competed to outdo each other in setting renewable energy and electric vehicle targets. .
In September, Chinese leader Xi Jinping said in a video message to the United Nations that China would become carbon neutral by 2060, meaning it would have zero net carbon dioxide emissions. A month later, Mr Suga jumped ahead of Mr Xi with a promise to do the same a decade earlier, in line with the purpose of the European Union.
Japanese officials said carmakers should review their business models to accelerate the shift from gas-powered vehicles. Traffic in Tokyo in April.
Photo:
kimimasa mayama / Shutterstock
The Japanese government’s plan calls for all new cars sold in the country from the mid-2030s to be electrified. That includes electric vehicles, hybrid gas-electric models and cars whose electricity is generated by hydrogen fuel cells. According to the plan, the cost of batteries should be reduced so that in ten years’ time electric vehicles will cost about the same as petrol-powered vehicles.
An outline of the plan released by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry expressed concern that Europe and China were ahead of Japan. It noted that sales of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in the EU more than tripled to about 270,000 units in the quarter from July to September, while the equivalent figure for Japan was about 6,000.
Masayoshi Arai, a ministry official, said “Japan is far behind” in vehicle electrification.
Japanese car drivers are angry at such statements, saying more hybrid gas-electric vehicles are sold in Japan than in any other country. Some wonder if fully electric vehicles like Tesla’s Inc.
are more environmentally friendly than hybrids due to the carbon dioxide emitted from the production of electric vehicles and their components.
“It’s definitely not that Japan is lagging behind,” said Toshihiro Mibe, a Honda executive who leads a sector council on environmental technology.
Japan’s move, combined with those in China, Europe, and California, is putting pressure on global automakers to move faster to electric vehicles, although many are making profits for now from American consumers hungry for gasoline-powered trucks and SUVs.
Toyota and Honda have yet to release specific plans for mass-market electric vehicles in the US and Japan, putting them behind Volkswagen’s. AG
, which plans to invest approximately $ 86 billion over the next five years in the development of electric vehicles and other new technologies. Nissan says it will sell the Ariya, an electric crossover SUV, in the US and other markets next year.
In any country’s biggest climate commitment, China pledged to become carbon neutral by 2060. While it will be challenging for Beijing to achieve its goal, China’s plan to become a green superpower will have ripple effects around the world. Illustration: Crystal Tai
The announcement comes as the US is poised to increase federal investment in electric vehicle development under an energy plan that President-elect Joe Biden plans to implement after taking office in January.
Mr. Biden has committed to create 1 million new jobs in the automotive industry, including building charging stations for electric vehicles. His energy plan calls for half a million new charging stations in the US.
The president-elect has said he hopes to use federal stimulus measures – including tax, trade and investment policies and more research and development – to make the US the world leader in electric vehicle manufacturing.
He has said he would encourage the public to switch to more environmentally friendly vehicles by offering discounts to consumers and incentives to manufacturing facilities that build parts for low-emission vehicles. He also wants to strengthen federal fuel economy standards for vehicles.
Mr. Biden’s presidential transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
—Andrew Restuccia contributed to this article.
Write to Peter Landers at [email protected] and Chieko Tsuneoka at [email protected]
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