It's 2022, electric vehicles are selling like hot cakes as gas prices are reaching levels consumers have never seen before. The chip shortage has hurt auto production to the point where some companies like
$TSLA would cut corners and build cars with fewer chips in order to get more cars on the road and other automakers choose to produce less vehicles to ensure quality. Toyota, the largest automotive producer, chooses to be cautious on electric vehicles and instead
doubles down on hybrids and hydrogen-powered vehicles. According to Toyota's CEO, he defends his cautiousness on producing many electric vehicles for these reasons:
Fast forward to
today, automakers are now choosing to invest more in producing hybrid vehicles as demand for electric vehicles suddenly stopped accelerating. With hybrids, automakers are able to appease consumer demand and avoid costly penalties related to federal fuel economy and emissions standards. At the same time, consumers will be consuming less gasoline and will get closer to having an electric vehicle. Not to mention that hybrids are cheaper and relieve many of the issues that electric vehicles already have including range anxiety.
Bravo Toyota for seeing the future of the automotive industry better than the rest of the industry.