Climate Council criticizes Toyota, Isuzu for slow EV transition in Australia – Dubai Car News

In The Race to Zero Briefing Paper, Environmental Advocacy Group Climate Council ranked the best and worst mainstream car manufacturers based on their commitment to fully transition to battery electric vehicles (BEVs).

The report criticized Isuzu and Toyota for not definitively committing to an all-electric fleet.

‘Mid-pack’ brands Ford and Volkswagen considered their scale, and Volvo Australia was praised for moving ahead with a global strategy.

The report already praised Tesla and Polestar for achieving 100 percent BEV sales share – no surprise there.

“Some are still rebuilding their engines on the starter block, and the competition poses a threat,” the council’s report said.

Hit the jump to see the rankings.

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Toyota BZ4X

“Some manufacturers have made bad bets on various vehicle technologies that have not succeeded (such as hydrogen for light passenger vehicles), or simply failed to take advantage of the electric opportunity.”

The council rejected a target by Australia’s best-selling car brand, Toyota, to sell just 3.5 million annual BEVs globally by 2030. Toyota’s first pure BEV is the RAV4-sized Toyota bZ4X, which will launch in the second half of 2023.

Meanwhile, recreational and commercial vehicle brand Isuzu has set no goals beyond net zero by 2050. It currently only sells the diesel-powered D-Max utes and related MU-X large SUVs.

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Tesla, Polestar BEV Ahead In Race… With A Few Models

The council today praised Tesla and Polestar for selling BEVs exclusively in Australia. Although, the former has only two models – the popular Model 3 sedan and the Model Y crossover.

The Sino-Swedish Volvo spin-off sells only the Polestar 2 liftback, but previously offered the limited-run Polestar 1 plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) overseas.

Notably absent from the council’s rankings is Build Your Dreams (BYD), which currently offers the affordable Atto 3 small electric SUV through independent distributor EVDirect Down Under. In its home market in China, it produces both pure BEVs and PHEVs.

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On the legacy automaker front, Volvo, Ford and Volkswagen lead the zero-emissions transition with targets to go completely to BEVs by 2030, 2035 and 2040 respectively.

Last week, Volvo Cars Australia announced that it will go EV-only locally by 2026 and that five new electric models will follow shortly, led by the EX90.

Meanwhile, Mazda, Hyundai and Kia will only electrify their lineups between 2030 and 2040. This includes pure BEVs, PHEVs and possibly hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCEVs) in the case of South Korean groups.

Despite being early to market with the Leaf and iMiev, Nissan and Mitsubishi are slow, aiming for 50 percent electrification by 2030 with no BEV target.

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“Stronger” fuel efficiency standards are required.

With the federal government currently drafting a National Electric Vehicle Strategy, the Climate Council called for mandatory ‘fuel efficiency standards’ – which require car companies to exceed fleet average carbon emissions limits. Penalties – like those in the EU – will encourage carmakers to tackle the BEV transition early. in Australia.

“The plans put forward by Volvo, Ford and Volkswagen demonstrate that a rapid transition to fully electric new vehicle sales is realistic and achievable. It means fuel efficiency for Australia. “The new standards should be able to meet the path of manufacturers moving forward,” the report said.

“A review of the way major international car manufacturers are retooling their fleets suggests that should be fully feasible within about a decade.

“Stronger fuel efficiency standards will mean more affordable, clean electric vehicles are available in Australia, so more families can afford to drive them.”

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Classification of Climate Council EV and BEV targets