How Toyota intends to achieve zero CO2 emissions

THE Prius, along with the company’s other gasoline/electric hybrid models, leads Toyota’s present initiatives at reducing its carbon footprint on the way to achieving zero CO2 emissions by the time 2050 arrives. But the efforts at realizing this target, which comes with the need to hurdle several challenges, rests on a close collaboration among auto manufacturers, governments and consumers.

This is one of the key points delivered by top Toyota Motor regional and country officials, joined by representatives from government and an NGO, at the Toyota Hybrid Electric Technology Conference held May 29 in Bonifacio Global City.

The meet, initiated by Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP), forms part of Toyota’s information dissemination program aimed at educating consumers on electrified vehicle technologies and their impact to society and the environment, Toyota Motor Asia Pacific executive vice-president Vince Socco told motioncars.

Socco, among the speakers in the event, noted Toyota has made similar presentations in other markets.

The official bared all vehicles Toyota is developing will soon come with an electrified version. By 2030, the carmaker is targeting to sell more than 5.5 million electrified vehicles already, a million of which will be fully electric-powered.

Electrified vehicles are those which have an electric motor operating in conjunction with an internal combustion engine — or hybrids whose batteries can be charged either by the engines they are paired with, or by external electrical plugs. Fully electric vehicles can either source their power from rechargeable batteries (which need to be plugged in to an external electrical source) or from on-board fuel cells (which use a combination of oxygen and hydrogen).

In his presentation Socco said Toyota’s 2030 target also includes reducing by at least 25%, when compared to 2013 levels, the amount of CO2 emissions generated by a vehicle over its life cycle — meaning from its manufacturing to end-of-life disposal.

Along with these targets, other components of the company’s 2030 plan — reducing CO2 emissions and water consumption in Toyota’s manufacturing facilities, recycling of parts coming from vehicles at the end of their lifetime, enhancing environmental efforts with communities — are all intended to realize more comprehensive achievements outlined in the Toyota Environmental Challenge 2050, which the carmaker announced in 2015.

The 2050 plan aims to lessen by 90%, compared to 2010 levels, Toyota’s global CO2 emissions average coming from the operation of vehicles; completely eliminating CO2 emissions from the manufacturing to disposal of vehicles, as well as from Toyota production plants; and developing better recycling technologies for end-of-life vehicles.

The treatment for such vehicles, Socco said in a news conference following the presentations, “should be a forethought rather than an afterthought.”

The goal of Toyota Environmental Challenge 2050, the executive added, is “not just net zero, but net positive,” referring to the carmaker’s impact on the environment and society.

TMP president Satoru Suzuki in his presentation said efforts in the Philippines meant to meet Toyota’s 2030 and 2050 targets include improving TMP’s supply chain, logistics and dealer operations through enhanced compliance with environmental regulations, reducing the number of trips for parts and vehicle deliveries, and using more energy-efficient appliances in dealerships.

Suzuki said TMP is also now partly reliant on solar energy, has been treating its wastewater in the plant, and is recycling select vehicle parts. The company has also been cultivating forest reserves in Laguna.

Another key component is increasing the number of Toyota and Lexus hybrid models sold locally, according to the executive, who noted “HEV [hybrid electric vehicle] is an ideal solution in the Philippines.”

“Based on current Philippine conditions, it is most appropriate to start with HEV popularization in order to accelerate the reduction of emissions and fuel consumption [in the country],” Suzuki said in a statement released to journalists.

In the same statement TMP asserted vehicle electrification is “one of its long-term solutions for a greener and more energy-efficient local automotive landscape.”

Department of Trade and Industry undersecretary Rafaelita Aldaba in a speech said the wider adoption of electrified vehicles in the country partly depends on policies whose formulation relies on the “need for the academe and [auto] industry to work closely together.”

At present TMP counts two hybrid models in its lineup: the Prius and Prius C. Its Lexus subsidiary sells the GS 450h, NX 300h, RX 450h, CT 200h, CT 200h F Sport and LS 500h hybrid models.

Socco in the news conference said battery-powered electric vehicles are still “too expensive,” noting no benefits can be gained if such vehicles remain on showroom floors as consumers shy away from buying them.

“That is why we’re pushing for hybrids. . . HEVs are ready now. They are deployable,” he said.