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Toyota’s chairman doubles down on his electric car skepticism, forecasting that EV adoption will peak at just 30%

fortune.com Toyota’s chairman doubles down on his electric car skepticism, forecasting that EV adoption will peak at just 30%

“The enemy is CO2,” Akio Toyoda said, as he promoted an approach that includes both hybrids and hydrogen-powered cars.

Toyota’s chairman doubles down on his electric car skepticism, forecasting that EV adoption will peak at just 30%

Akio Toyoda, Toyota Motor’s chairman, has never been a huge fan of battery electric vehicles. Last October, as global sales of EVs started to slow down amid macroeconomic uncertainty, Toyoda crowed that people are “finally seeing reality” on EVs. Now, the auto executive is doubling down on his bearish forecast, boldly predicting that just three in 10 cars on the road will be powered by a battery.

“The enemy is CO2,” Toyoda said, proposing a “multi-pathway approach” that doesn’t rely on any one type of vehicle. “Customers, not regulations or politics” should make the decision on what path to rely on, he said.

The auto executive estimated that around a billion people still live in areas without electricity, which limits the appeal of a battery electric vehicle. Toyoda estimated that fully electric cars will only capture 30% of the market, with the remainder taken up by hybrids or vehicles that use hydrogen technology.

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