Akio Toyoda once again criticized electric cars: it will ruin the Japanese economy!

At the annual meeting of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association in December last year, Toyota Motor President Akio Toyoda publicly stated that pure electric vehicles were overhyped, and claimed that electric vehicles would stifle enterprises, require huge investment, and emit more carbon dioxide. It stated that the infrastructure required to support a fleet of electric vehicles would cost Japan between 135 billion and 358 billion U.S. dollars. If Japan bans gasoline-powered vehicles too hastily, "the current business model of the auto industry will collapse." Cause the loss of millions of jobs. It also believes that in a country like Japan where most of the electricity comes from burning coal and natural gas, electric vehicles are not helpful to the environment. "The more electric vehicles you build, the more serious carbon dioxide emissions will be."

After six months, Akio Toyoda's attitude towards electric vehicles remains unchanged. At the recent regular meeting of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Akio Toyoda, together with corporate executives from Honda, Yamaha, Isuzu and others, issued a warning that the Japanese government set a goal to reduce Japan`s greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and by 2050. The goal of achieving carbon neutrality through the promotion of pure electric vehicles is unrealistic and will cause a devastating blow to the Japanese economy.

Toyoda said that Japan is a country that relies on exports, and manufacturing is the lifeblood of Japan's economy. Japanese automakers produce about 10 million vehicles domestically each year, half of which are for export. By 2030, approximately 8 million vehicles equipped with internal combustion engines will be produced annually by domestic factories in Japan, including fuel vehicles and hybrid vehicles. If the government directly transforms to pure electric vehicles, it also means that 8 million car production will be lost every year, which will bring a serious blow to car manufacturers, and will make car companies have to make difficult choices or stop production completely. Diesel locomotives, or transfer production to overseas. At the same time, such operations will also affect 5.5 million auto jobs in Japan, and most of them will also lose their jobs.

In addition, Toyoda believes that the reckless transition to pure electric will weaken Japan's industrial base, and a more flexible approach should be adopted, which can adapt to local conditions. As long as energy saving and emission reduction can be achieved, there should be more freedom in which technical route to adopt. After all, our enemy is carbon dioxide, not an internal combustion engine.