A bit of common sense starting to evolve in the E.V space.
BMW's CEO has cautioned against exclusively selling electric cars, warning it will constrain consumer choice and cause supply-chain issues.
From the article:
Mr Zipse (pictured above) said mandating all vehicles to become electric could be a counter-productive measure if the unintended consequence was that people held onto their older, higher-polluting petrol or diesel cars rather than upgrading to a more efficient one.
"If someone cannot buy an (electric vehicle) for some reason but needs a car, would you rather propose he continues to drive his old car forever?” Mr Zipse was quoted by news agency
Reuters as saying.
The BMW executive's candid comments follow those of Mr Toyoda, who said
Toyota's strategy for achieving carbon neutrality would involve hybrid cars, as well as pure-electric vehicles.
“We are living in a diversified world and in an era in which it is hard to predict the future,” Mr Toyoda (pictured below)
said in December 2021.
“Therefore it is difficult to make everyone happy with a one-size-fits-all option. That is why Toyota wants to prepare as many options as possible for our customers around the world.”
Mr Zipse has been consistent in voicing his concerns about prematurely phasing out petrol and diesel engines, telling politicians in Germany in February 2022 that shutting down production would not benefit consumers or the environment.
“The largest market segment in absolute terms by a wide margin in Germany, but also in Europe and worldwide, is the internal combustion engine. Before you simply shut something like that down within eight or ten years, you have to know well what you’re doing,” Mr Zipse said at the time.
“It would be harmful to simply give up a technology in which you have a global market position without need. I don’t think that would help the climate or anyone else.”
Locally, Toyota Australia executives have shared similar sentiments, cautioning governments against leaving the masses behind in the push for electric vehicles.
Sean Hanley, the sales and marketing boss of Toyota Australia,
said in January 2022 the company would retain its commitment to hybrid vehicles in tandem with its development of electric cars, suggesting hybrids were an affordable low-emissions alternative for consumers.