VINDICATION

As it turns out, Toyota's multi-pathway approach to carbon neutrality is the correct answer

- By Kap Maceda Aguila

The IMV Origin is a highly customizable truck concept that can be whatever it is that users in various territories need it to be.

At the outset of the battery electric vehicle (BEV) “revolution,” that tipping point when more brands decided they would be striving toward rolling out fully electric powertrains sooner than later, global auto leader Toyota — through its then-president and CEO Akio Toyoda in particular — had faced stinging rebuke for not being on board the BEV train.

Even as the rest of the auto industry looked upon full electrification as the silver bullet to greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) — emitted primarily through the burning of fossil fuels — while addressing transportation needs of people and goods, Mr. Toyoda and Toyota have maintained consistently that carbon is the enemy. Furthermore, carbon neutrality — a state of net zero carbon where actions that redound in emissions are matched by ones to reduce to offset them — is a more realistic, viable dream to aspire to for our planet, according to Mr. Toyoda.

Back in 2022, at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center in Thailand, the leader doubled down on his viewpoint, declaring that Toyota will not espouse a “one-size-fits-all approach to (its) products and powertrains.” He insisted that people “need to be realistic about when society will be able to fully adopt battery electric vehicles and when... infrastructure can support them at scale.” The executive was in town primarily to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of Toyota Motor Thailand Company (TMT) — the manufacturing and distribution subsidiary of the Japan-headquartered car maker.